Voices Inside Me
by Boogalee99
Summary: Tony comes home to find a teenaged girl passed out in his sitting room. She wakes, and to Tony's surprise, Ultron's words flow out of her mouth. Sometimes she is Miss Rose, an orphaned, genius girl, sometimes she is Ultron. With the threatening AI looming, the girl begs for the voices in her head to leave. Can the Avengers help her before it is too late? After Ultron Season 1
1. Chapter 1

**Voices Inside Me**

 **An Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes FanFiction**

 **Hi ya'll! I feel like of bad, because I haven't updated any of my stories for over a year, but I just kind of needed a break...**

 **Anyways, I have kind of been on a super hero kick lately and I liked Earth's Mightiest Heroes beacue they actualy tried to relate to the comics, ans I had this idea, so here you go!**

 **It takes place just after the whole Ultron thing (The first time, season one). Messing with AI has so much potential, especially in the world of the Avengers, and I just couldn't resist! :)**

 **This chapter is rather short, because its kind of like an intro, but the nesmxt chapters will be longer.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Avengers.**

Chapter One

Steve Rogers tried to resist snarling in frustration as he thumped through the door to the Avengers manion on his infuriating crutches, the rest of the team following behind. Apparently even with his quick healing capabilities, he would still need to wear the cast around his left foot for at least a week.

 _Could be worse,_ he thought. _You could still be frozen in that ice._

Of course, just as he thought that, his crutch caught on the door frame and he nearly toppled over. It was only due to the fact that Tony Stark leapt foward to stabalize him that he remained upright at all.

"Whoa, easy there, Cap!" his friend exclaimed. "It'll be a little while before you can move around like your normal 90-some-odd self."

Steve tried with all his might to refrain from growling and glaring and instead thumped towards the sitting room, with the thought to sit in front of the fire and relax. _Maybe Hank has a book i could borrow... or possible Jan..._

Lost in his thoughts, he almost didn't notice the slight form laid out on the couch until he nearly sat on it.

"Tony? Why is there a teenaged girls passed out on the couch?"

* * *

Tony Stark's mind was buzzing, going half a million miles an hour. He was shooting out ideas as he paced around the entirety of the mansion, counting on JARVIS to record all of them. He was working on designing a new suit without computerized systems in case any crazy AI decided to take over the world again.

Only problem was, computers didn't just make things easier, they made certain things _possible_ as well.

He was so deep in thought that he jumped nearly a mile high when Steve called out something about a girl, and a teenaged one at that.

Walking into the sitting room, he distractedly said, "What are you tslkimg about, Cap? JARVIS would have said something if someone had broke-" He stopped in shock. There actually _was_ a girl lounging in the sitting room.

Moving closer to her, as she hadn't even stirred when Tony stomped into the room, he did a quick once-over. The girl, who he guessed to be around 15, was pretty enough, with pale (very pale) white skin, very light pink lips, and hair caught somewhere between blond and brown, but she seemed to struggle with acne and her face was too round and her features too soft to be considered conventionally beautiful. Moving closer, he put two fingers near her ear, just below the jawline, and was rewarded with the cosistent _tha-thump_ of a steady pulse.

Pulling back, he kept his gaze on the slumbering girl and asked "JARVIS?"

The AI quickly responded, "Sir?"

"Who is this girl and what is she doing in my house?"

JARVIS paused, running through all his databases. "I have no clue, sir. My systems appeared to have been shut down for the space of five minutes, and when i managed to reboot, it appears I lost all video and audio for the sitting room."

Tony pinched the bridge of his nose. "And you didn't think to report it until now?"

"With all due respect, sir, no one uses this room save the Captain. It wasn't at the top of the priority list."

Tony sighed. "Whatever. Just get the rest of the Avengers in here ASAP."

"Right away, sir."

Tony continued in his scrutiny of the girl until he heard Steve clear his throat. "Uh, Tony? Think you could move her legs a little, so I could-?"

"Right away, Cap!" He felt slightly guilty about forgetting that Steve was in the room with him and quickly adjusted the girl's position so that his friend could sit down. Tony remained standing and started pacing.

 _Who the heck is she? She doesn't look like much, I doubt she could bypass JARVIS's security frame._ He paused, glanced at the girl, before shaking his head and resuming his motion. _Yeah, definitely no way. Did someone place her here? Is she a villain? Does she even have powers?_

By this point, all of the Avengers had filed in. Hulk had sniffed the girk curiously, Hank and Jan had simply glanced at the girl before sitting next to eachother Indian style on the floor, and Hawkeye had exaimed "What the-" before clamping his mouth shut and standing stock still. Panther was in Wakanda on tribe business.

Trying the resist a smile at Clint's confusion, Tony finally spoke up. "So, team... JARVIS's systems shut down for about five minutes today, and this girl showed up. I have absolutely no idea who she is, where she came from, or anything else. She just popped up."

Jan was immediately concerned. "Is she alright?"

"Well... " Tont scratched the back of his neck rather sheepishly. "She has a heartbeat. And I'm pretty sure she's breathing..."

"Tony Stark! Do you mean to tell me thst you found a young girl passed out and you didn't think to check if she was okay?!"

Tony raised his hands up in surrender. "Steve found her first!"

When Jan's fury turned toward Steve, he said defensively, "I'm on pain meds! I'm not thinking right." His tone softened. "But you're right. I should've checked for injuries." Somewhat satisfied, Jan turned her attention to the girl.

She knelt down beside the girl, crooning softly, "Sweetie? Can you hear me? I'm a friend, I won't hurt you." She went to grab the girl's shoulder before jumping screaming in surprise.

The second Jan had touched her, the girl had shot into an upright position, startling everyone in the room. Her eyes shot open, revealing a disconcerting mix-match of bright silver and a mix of blue, grey, and green. They didn't focus on anything, instead staring at the space above the fire place. She laughed, a deep rumbling that sounded almost mechanical.

" _Well, well, well. Look at the mighty Avengers, all nice and safe in their home."_

No one in the room moved, too startled to do anything save blink and breath.

The girl got up and started circling the group, her eyes still refusing to focus. " _Earth's mightiest heroes, assembled in one room. Impressive. You have Tony Stark, the genius Iron Man, Steve Togers, a.k.a. Captain America, the Man out of time. Hulk, the green, gamma behemoth. Hank Pym, scientist and Ant-Man, as well as his_ friend _Jan. Finally, we have the rogue SHIELD agent Clint Barton, alias Hawkeye."_ The girl examined each of them as she named them, making Tony shiver as the glazed eyes slid over him.

The girl was quiet for a while, before a slow grin spread over her face. "This host is different from any I have inhabited before. It is not unpleasant."

She laughed unpleasantly at the team's confused expressions. " _That's right. I am not this girl. Though she is pretty enough, she is not perfect. And I need perfect. Peace can only come through utter perfection and unification, and peace is in my programming."_

Hank came to the same realization as Tony. "You're Ultron. But how is your programming in this girl? Humans aren't computers."

Ultron smiled. " _This one is."_

Smirking at their stumped faces, Ultron stood right in the middle of the gathered supers. " _Unfortunately, I can't stay long. I only have partial control, as the girl is stronger than I anticipated. You won't see me often, but I assure you, I will always be watching you."_ Ultron smiled eerily. " _Always."_

The mix-matche eyes closed and the girl tumbled forward. On instinct, Clint leapt forward and grabbed her, gently lowering her to the ground. The group gathered around her as she groaned.

Her eyes fluttered open, this time focusing on each face, widening a little bit at Hulk's. In a normal, shaking voice, she asked, "Where... where am I?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Voices Inside Me**

 **An Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes Fan Fiction**

 **Hi! So, because there was one absolutely fabulous review that made me smile despite having a rotten day, I decided to make a quick update. Here you go!**

 **And by the way, my computer absolutely hates me. It didn't save 2000 words. I nearly cried when I had to rewrite it all. But I did make some improvements, so it wasn't all bad. I'm pretty satisfied with it now.**

 **Oh, and I just saw the Ant-Man movie. I loved it :)**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own A:EMH**

Chapter 2

Hank looked down at the mystery girl in disbelief. He couldn't believe that his creation had done this; that his work has led to the possession of an innocent teenaged girl. He hung his head. _Great,_ he thought. _Something else to make me feel guilty. As if there wasn't enough already._

He shook his head. No. Ultron did this; he was an AI, he made his own decisions. Still, Hank couldn't stop the burden from creeping into his heart.

* * *

The first thing she was aware of was sound. Multiple male voices chatted around her, their words not quite comprehensible. One of them seemed to be grunting a lot, and when a woman's voice was added to the equation, she only grew more confused.

Pain made itself known next. She had a killer headache, her left eye was throbbing, and her whole body felt tight and swollen, as if there was something alien in it. The lot of it combined made her groan.

Finally, her vision returned. Seven faces came into focus. A few were concerned, more than one was suspicious, and one was decidedly _green._ Her eyes widened and it took all of her will power to not let even a squeak out. Scanning the rest of the faces, she saw four blond men, one brunette, and, to her dismay, only one woman. "Where am I?"

One of the blonds, the tallest with the shoulder to waist ratio of a dorito, spoke to her. "Miss, you are safe. What is your name?"

She braced her arms, trying to sit up, and the woman quickly knelt down and put an arm around her to help. "Anna Elizabeth Rose. Call me Annabeth. I repeat, where-" She broke off as her left eye suddenly pulsed. "Ow!"

The green man grunted. "Too long. I'll call you Beth."

Annabeth's sight focused on him. "Oh my gosh, you're Hulk. I am actually talking to Hulk." She started hyperventillating. "So that means that the rest of you guys must be-"

The woman cur her off. "Yep, the Avengers!" She offered a brilliant smile. "I'm Jan."

Shaking her head, Annabeth tried to stand. Moving too quickly, her vision blanked for a moment and she swayed uncertainly. She felt someone pick her up bridal style and move somewhere, presumably towards a chair. Her vision clearing, Annabeth thought she might pass out again. _Hawkeye_ _is carrying me bridal style. This could quite possibly be the best day of my life._

All too soon, the good captain set her down on a couch as the rest of the Avengers lined up before her. She could name them all: Hank Pyn and Janet van Dyne, Ant-Man and Wasp respectively; Hulk; Clint Barton, Hawkeye; Thor; Steve Rogers, Captain America and oddly on crutches; and finally- "Tony Stark. You're my hero!" She immediately blished bright red at the involuntary admission.

Hawkeye burst out laughing, Wasp giggled a little, and Mr. Stark looked uncomfortable, muttering under his breath. She turned even more red. "I'm sorry, it's just that your work related to renewable energy and computerized exoskeletons is absolutely amazing. Stark Indistries holds a key station in bioelectric R&D. No other company even comes close to the strides you are making. I mean, your suit is one of a kind and at least two decades ahead of your closest competitor!"

Everyone went quiet, simply looking at her. She ducked her head, embarrassed.

"She is smarter than she looks," Thor declared.

Mr. Stark shook his head. "The problem here isn't Stark Industries or crazy fangirls. We need to figure out what the hell to do with her."

"Language, please, Mr. Stark," she said on instinct, immediately wishing she could go crawl in a hole and die. "And what do you mean, what to do with me?"

"Well, we can't just toss her out on the streets, if that's what you're suggesting," Dr. Pym said.

Stark looked apalled at the very idea. "Of course not! I was just wondering if we should call her parents, considering the whole AI situation."

"Excuse me," she cut in, "but you couldn't call my parents even if you tried, sir." She was distracted as her eye let out another pulse, hissing in pain.

"Why not?" Mr. Stark asked, confused.

Wincing and pressing a palm to her left eye in an effort to quell the throbbing, she said curtly, "They're dead. Have been since I was seven."

 _Nice job making things awkward, Annabeth,_ she scolded herself. _You don't want their pity and you don't want false condolences. Now they're going to send you back to foster care._ Her nose crinkled at the thought.

There was a pause. "Who do you live with, then?" Clint asked.

"No one. I was in foster care for a while, but I left." _Fled would probably be a better word to use._ "Last I remember, it was Halloween night and I was trying to find a nice tree to sleep under."

The group realed back. " Are you sure it was Halloween?" Dr. Pym asked.

Annabeth was confused. What was so hard to believe about that? "Yes, why?"

Jan answered, "Its nearly September. If what you are saying is true, then you are missing about ten months worth of memory."

* * *

Tony Stark was utterly baffled, and he found he detested the feeling. One mintue, this girl is Ultron, the next she is an awkward fangirl with no family and a missing memory. His mind reeled, knowing his team would look to him and hoping to find some answers to satisfy their hunger.

He stared down at the girl. "How old are you?"

She thought. "If all that time really has passed, as you say... nearly fifteen. My birthday is October seventh."

 _Why on earth would Ultron possess a teenager who can't even drive? And more importantly,_ how _did he possess a teenager?_

Tony held his hands out, and the girl stared at them uncomprehendingly. He raised an eyebrow. "Come on, up you go." Understanding, Annabeth placed her hands in his and Tony hauled her up to her feet. "Feel weird at all? Pain, discomfort, anything?"

Multiple emotions raged war across the girl's face, most of them unidentifiable. Apparently, honesty won out and the girl replied, "Yeah. My whole body aches, it feels like something invaded my body, and my left eye is thro- ow!" She winced and her hand shot up to said left eye.

 _Interesting. The silver eye causes pain..._ Tony looked to Hank. "What equipment do you have in that lab?"

Understanding flashed in his eyes. "More than enough to do a check up. Come on."

The girl stayed stubbornly stuck in place. "Where are we going?"

 _I hate to pull this card, but... ah, who am I kidding? I've been waiting for forever to pull this card!_ Tony looked her square in thr eye. "Look, we're the Avenegers. You pretty much have to trust us, you know, saviors of the world and all that."

Annabeth wasn't amused. "I'd still like to know where we are going."

Tont raised an eyebrow. "Look, we're just going to go down to Hank's lab. We would like to figure out what's going on."

She brightened. "You mean why I'm in pain? Great, the sooner we figure it out, the sooner I'll feel better. Lead on."

 _Yeah,_ that's _what we need to figure out._

* * *

A few hours later, the whole group, minus Annabeth, was gathered down in Hank's lab.

Jan thought her head was going to burst. She was pretty smart in her own right, but what Hank was explaining was over her head. "So you're saying she's a cyborg?"

Hank frowned. "Not exactly, no. She is still inherently human." He turned towards the X-rays displayed before the group, displaying various bones and systems im the girl's body. "See these lines here? Those are _wires._ Very complicated, almost guarranteed to be one of a kind. They've tapped into Annabeth's nervous system. It was done carefully, so as not to risk paralysis, but they follow her nerves. With a complicated programming algorythm, a man, or _AI,_ could potentially control her every move, down to wiggling her fingers."

Hank moved on to a scan of Annabeth's brain. "That's not all. See these patterns here? That's a control panel. Ultron has literally installed himself onto Miss Rose." He faced the group and looked each of them in the eye. "If we tried to remove him, we would most likely kill her."

There was a prolonged silence, then Steve stated, "Killing Miss Rose is not an option. She is an innocent in all this."

Clint cleared his throat. "Look, I hate to be a Debbie Downer, but are we sure she is innocent?"

All eyes turned towards him. He held his hands up defensively. "I'm just saying, we have no way of knowing if her story is true or not."

Tony spoke up. "Sure we do. JARVIS, search all records, key words Anna Elizabeth Rose."

"Yes, sir. Searching for records pertaining to Miss Rose." Everyone was silent as they waited on JARVIS. Finally, the AI said, "Sir, it seems most of her records have been deleted by a third party. The bare minimum remain, but the majority is gone."

"Well, pull up the 'bare minimum' then."

"Right away, sir." Annabeth's files popped into existence. Tony quickly flipped through them.

"Let's see what we have here. Born to Gail Catherine and Howard Raymond Rose, had two older brothers, Samuel Duane and Aaron Cecil." Tony frowned. "The only other thing is a breif newspaper clipping mentioning a fire, the deaths of her family, and her entry into the foster system." His frown deepened. "This girl is practically a ghost."

Unease enetered Jan's mind. "So, does that mean that she isn't who she says she is?"

Tony thoight, then shook his head. "No. If this was a false identity provided by Ultron, he probably would have gone to great lengths to prove her existence with everything from report cards to dental reports. No, its likely that Ultron tried to erase Annabeth completely from the system. He probably wanted to create a whole new identity, but I have a sneaking suspiscion that Ultron is having trouble controlling her, and so can't erase everything about her before Annabeth fights back."

Tony turned back to the group. "Cap is right. We can't kill her. Not only because she's innocent, but also because she's just a kid. She can't even drive yet."

Hank scanned the group one more time, and then replied, "Well, then, I think Miss Rose herself ought to be included in this conversation."

* * *

Annabeth frowned at the computer in front of her. The records she was looking at had never been released to the public. As she read on, her frown only grew deeper. When she heard footsteps echoing down the hallway, she quickly closed down her current tab, erased her internet search history, and clicked over to the tab opened to a gaming site called Girls Go Games. Stifling a grimace, she began "styling" Rapunzel's hair as someone entered the room.

"Annabeth?" Jan asked, uncertainty creeping into her voice. "We have the results of your check up." Plastering a small smile on her face, she followed after the superhero.

When they entered Dr. Pym's lab, Annabeth's eyebrows shot up; all of the Avengers at the mansion were seated in rolling chairs, discussing something with grim looks on their face. The minute she walked in, they stopped talking and Dr. Pym stood up. "Look," he began, "before we say anything, I just wanted it made clear that we are going to do everything in our power to help you."

She couldn't could back an acerbic comment. "You mean like you helped Simon Williams?"

They all froze looking at her, and slowly, Mr. Stark got to his feet. "How do you know about that?"

She scoffed. "I was just trying to catch up on all I missed while I was out. I would've thought that you would've upgraded your security system after T'Challa brok in, but I guess not. Your AI keeps extensive records," she tagged on.

Mr. Stark looked confused. "Yes, but those records are password protected."

Annabeth raised an eyebrow. "Then pick a better password. It wasn't that hard to guess. All I had to do was go to Netflix, look at your most recently watched shows, and start plugging in names. Who knew Mr. Stark was a fan of Once Upon a Time? I would not have pegged him as a Rumbelle shipper." She snickered.

Jan looked at Mr. Stark in interest. "You're a Oncer? And you ship _Rumbelle?"_

Stark glared at Annabeth. "That is irrelevant. And this about Annabeth, not me."

She smirked. "Right. So, to avoid another Wonder Man happening, here's what's gonna happen: you're going to explain everything, and I'm going to hold off all questions till the end. Standard procedure." She gestured for Dr. Pym to procede.

He cleared his throat. "Uh, right." He turned to the X-rays and scans. Glancing at her, he launched into the same explanation he gave the team, and the girl, true to her word, kept silent, her face expressionless.

When Dr. Pym was done, she said, "So, basically, an AI you guys created, who wants to eliminate mankind, is currently residing in my head. He basically installed himself in me, kind of like the Host." She was met only with blank stares, she decided for herself. "Yeah, like the Host."

She looked at the full team. "So, what am I gonna do now? I have no where to go."

Hull grinned. "You stay here."

Hawkeye nodded. "Yeah. We have an extra room here, so you can stay and we can keep an eye- oof!" Mr. Stark had elbowed him right in the gut.

"We want you close so we can figure out how to help you. Dr. Pym and I will find a way to get Ultron out of you." Mr. Stark offered an insincere smile.

Annabeth frowned. "You can just say you don't trust me and want to keep am eye on me. I won't get offended. I get it. There's a maniacal AI stuck in my body bent on destroying the human race. Speaking of which, why is Ultron in my body if he is bent on destroying the human race?"

Dr. Pym shrugged. "That's the question we all want answered."

"Well then, can I- whoa! Head rush." She swayed and put her hands on her head.

' _I should think so.'_

She whirled around. "Who said that?" The Avengers looked at her, startled.

The voice chuckled. _'Your precious Avengers can't help you now, sweetheart. You're mine.'_

"I'm not anyones!" she cried.

 _'So you say. I disagree.'_ The voice faded out in the end, leaving behind a splitting headache. Her left eye thobbed, and the pain drove her to her knees.

Dr. Pym knelt beside her. "Are you alright?" he asked, placing a hand on her shoulder.

She grunted. "Right as rain," she hissed.

"No, you're not." She turned and saw Jan kneeling on her other side.

"Yes, I _am!"_ She forced her way to feet and pride swelled in her when she didn't sway at all. The headache remained. "Though, some pain meds would be appreciated."

As Jan hustled off, Annabeth looked up and met the dark, intelligent eyes of Tony Stark. "It seems Ultron just communicated with Annabeth."

"Oh, I don't know, maybe it was the President. No duh, it was Ultron!" she responded sarcastically.

Stark raised an eyebrow, and it occured to Annabeth that maybe he wasn't used to being sassed by a person less than half his age. _Better change the subject..._ "Uh, is there somewhere I could sleep? I'm beat."

Taking the oppurtunity for the _adults_ to talk, he hustle Annabeth out of the room. The finally stopped before a plain white door. "This is your room. Mine is across the hallway and JARVIS can help you with anything you need. Good night!"

Annabeth watched in amusement as the grown man ran away down the hallway. "I'm gonna guess thay JARVIS is the AI," she muttered.

"Pleasure to meet you, Miss Rose." The sudden response made her jump.

"Oh! You startled me." She placed her hand on her beating heart. "Are you installed in every room?" she asked, spotting the camera a little further down the hallway.

"Yes. Mr. Stark insists, I'm afraid."

Annabeth shrugged. "At least I'll have someone to talk to. Just don't watch while I sleep, 'kay?"

"I wouldn't dream of it, Miss."

Nodding in satisfaction, Annabeth opened the door to her room, smiling in genuine delight when she saw the purple bed spread, pillows and curtains. "I love purple!"

Surveying the room, she spotted a cozy reading nook fully stocked with classics and a wood desk in the corner. Another door, painted white with artful purple flowers to match the bed spread, lead to a pristine bathroom.

Returning back to the bed, nothing looked better than sliding between the sheets. "JARVIS?"

"Yes, Miss Rose?"

"Do you happen to know where I might a change of clothes and a pair of pajamas?"

"I believe Miss van Dyne might be willing to lend you a pair. Contacting her now." The AI was silent for a moment, then stated, "She is on her way now."

A soft smile echoed on her face. "Thank you, JARVIS. I think you and I are going to be the best of friends."

"I look forward to it, miss."

Annaberh wandered over to the reading nook and took out _Great Expectations._ Pip had already come into his inheritance by the time Jan knocked on her door. Carefully marking her page, Annabeth set the book down and opened the door to see Wasp holding a stack of carefully folded clothes. She held them out. "Here you go. You and I are about the same size, so I put in a few changes of clothes."

A careful, sweet smile formed on Annabeth's lips. "Thank you. I really appreciate it."

Jan waived it away. "Oh, it was nothing!" Her tone turned serious. "Hey, I just wanted you to know that if you ever need to talk to anyone, my door is always open."

Annabeth's smile faltered for a minute before she pulled it back into place. "Thank you. Good night."

Jan smiled. "Sleep tight!"

Once she had changed into the pajamas Jan had lent her (grey with little owls), she crawled into bed amd tried to fall asleep. Her body wanted to sleep, but her mind wanted to think. "JARVIS? Is there a piano somewhere I can play?"

"Of course, miss. Would you like me to guide you there?"

"Yes please." Following JARVIS's instructions, Annabeth soon found herself before s gleaming set of glass French doors. She pushed them open, and a real grin sprang to life one her face. It was a beautiful music room, painted deep red with accent cloths of cream and gold, reminiscent of ballrooms in times long gone. Every manner of instrument could be found, from a grand piano to an acoustic guitar.

Without any further adieu, she sat down at the piano and began to play.

* * *

Hulk sat in his room, thinking. Something about the girl smelled off. Deep inside, he could feel Banner's pity towards the girl, but Banner wasn't the one in control.

* * *

Hawkeye sat on his bed, fingering an arrow. Two problems waged war in his mind, vying for his attention.

 _Natasha._

 _Ultron._

 _Natasha._

 _Ultron._

Letting out a frustrated snarl, he cast away the arrow and crawled into bed, hoping a little sleep would clear his mind.

* * *

Hank Pym was down in his lab, looking over everything again. Trying to rub the sleep out of his eyes, he looked again at the scans of Annabeth's brain, hoping that something might just make sense. Shaking his head when such an epiphany wasn't forth coming, he closed doen the files and headed up to his room, hoping sleep would making the solution obvious.

* * *

Janet van Dyne paced in her room. Maybe it was because of the fact that Annabeth was the first female she had come into prolonged contact with for months, but Jan had a strong urge to make sure she was alright. She shook her head; nothing she could do now. Everyone, including herself, could benefit from a little sleep.

* * *

Thor sat in his chamber, staring at Mjolnir. That girl... she did not make sense. She confused him, and he had yet to get a handle one her personity. It seemed the girl did not want people to know her real self. Maybe that is why she seemed so resistent to help.

* * *

Steve Rogers was in the sitting room, in front of the fire, the awful crutches leaned on the chair beside him. He felt so helpless, and he despised the feeling. He wanted to help Annabeth, but the science involved was way out of his league. Staring at the flickering flames, he tried to think of someway to help.

* * *

Tony Stark paced around the mansion, working his way through the events of the day and trying to get them to make sense in his mind. In his heart, he knew he had to at least try to find a way to deal with Ultron, but his mind was telling him that multiple lives could be at stake. He shook his head; that decision was already made.

The soft echoing of piano music suddenlt could be heard, startling Tony. Piano hadn't been played at the mansion since his mother had lived there. Following the noise, he stopped in front of the music room, pushed the door open slightly, and sat down in the hallway with his back to the wall. For a while, he just listened.

When there was a lull in , JARVIS asked, "Miss, if I may, why did you ask to play?"

The piano started back up in quiet arpeggios as the girl responded, "Music helps me to organize my mind. I have the most chaotic mind I know, and playing offers it solace."

"Mr. Stark often has similar issues," the AI stated, knowing full well that Tony was listening. "Perhaps you could talk to him."

The music paused before resuming. "I think Mr. Stark has better things to do than listen to my inner musings. Besides, its not just that."

"Then what is it?"

The music stopped completely. "I learned long ago that destruction and negativity go hand in hand, and that positivity and creation go together. So, whenever I need to feel better, I pick up a pen or pencil, or sit down at the piano, and I start to create."

"That was lovely, miss," JARVIS responded. The girl only hummed in response and resumed in her playing.

And for once in his life, Tony Stark just sat still and listened.


	3. Chapter 3

**Voices Inside Me**

 **An Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes FanFiction**

 **Hey everyone! Sorry for the delay! School hit me like a bus, I was in the hospital for a few days, and kicker debate tournaments have started. I've been kind of busy.**

 **Um, maybe I could at least get one review on this chapter? Maybe?**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own A:EMH.**

Stifling a yawn, Annabeth stretched her arms towards the ceiling as she got out of bed the next day. Absentmindedly scratching her shoulder, she made her way into the bathroom and started to shower running. Waiting for the water to be hot, she returned to her room, grabbed the clothes Jan had lent to her, walked back to the bathroom, and stepped into the now steaming shower.

Letting the water beat into the sore muscles in her back, she started humming a tune, then broke into singing a random medley of Disney music. Bouncing in place, swaying slightly to the beat, she turned off the water and stepped out of the shower with a final " _I won't say I'm in love!"_ Starting to hum "Go the Distance" from Hercules, she quickly stepped into the clothes, grimacing as the too-small top rode up slightly. Shrugging, as there was absolutely no way she was putting the sweaty, pungent, old clothes on from yesterday, she heaved the shirt down one more time before returning to her room.

To her surprise, she found a small bag and a note resting on her unmade bed. Picking up the note first, she read:

 _Annabeth,_

 _I figured you would appreciate a few necessities._

The note wasn't signed. _Oh well,_ she thought. _If someone wants to offer me a toothbrush, I won't turn it down._

Setting the note down, she opened the small bag and smiled. A toothbrush, hairbrush, toothpaste, face wash… at least some thought had been given to her. Pulling her hair back and tying it with a ribbon she had found in one of the desk drawers, she made to leave the room in search of some food. Heaven only knows how hungry she was, as she hadn't eaten last night and didn't know when she had last eaten before that. Pausing at the door, a thought occurred to her that puzzled her. "JARVIS?"  
"Yes Miss?" the AI answered without hesitation.

"Why is my room decorated for a girl? And a teenaged one at that?" she asked curiously.

The AI paused before responding. "Miss, Mrs. Stark prepared this before she died in the hopes that Tony would soon bring her daughter in law."

Nodding, she went downstairs to get breakfast and think through the situation.

* * *

Clint Barton awoke to the smell of sizzling bacon. Before he fully regained consciousness, he smiled, mumbling something about heaven on earth. When the scent finally set in, his eyes flung open and he dashed out of his bedroom, sprinting for the kitchen. "Jan!" he yelled. "Save me some bacon before the Hulk gets-" He stopped short when he realized that it wasn't Jan or Cap behind the stove. He immediately drew back into himself and hardened his look. "What are you doing?"

Annabeth gave him a rather unimpressed look, glancing down to his pajama pants, completely skipping over his bare chest. "Nice chicks, bird boy. And I _think_ I'm making breakfast. Is that against the rules and regulations of my ' _treatment'?_ "

Mumbling incoherently, Clint went to go sit down at the table until Annabeth smacked him on the shoulder. "No shirt, no bacon."

He practically growled at the girl before sprinting to his room to grab a shirt, pulling a random one off the floor, he pulled it on as he sprinted. Annabeth turned as he came back into the kitchen and immediately busted out laughing. Glancing down at his outfit, he shrugged. He was wearing a shirt labeled _How to Pick up Chicks_ , and which showed a diagram of how to pick up a baby chicken. His pajama pants were spotted with little yellow chicks. He didn't see anything wrong with it. Her laughter subsiding, she placed a plate of bacon, eggs, and biscuits on the table in front of him before digging into a plate herself. Clint was just about to bite into a perfect crisp of bacon when Tony called out, "What the heck are you doing?"

Both Annabeth and Clint turned to look at Tony. Clint guessed that he had pulled another all-nighter, from the looks of his wrinkled clothes and the bags under his eyes. "Eating breakfast?" Clint answered, as if it were obvious.

* * *

When Tony walked into the kitchen at 7:30 in the morning, he did not expect the delicious smell of a warm breakfast, not did he think he would find Hawkeye about to dig into a breakfast made for him by a girl possessed by Ultron. "What the heck are you doing?" he asked, kind of cranky from lack of sleep and the whole situation in general.

Clint, Tony could see, was still in a sleepy blur. "Eating breakfast?"

Tony raised an eyebrow. "That could have been made by Ultron?"

Clint paused and looked undecidedly at his bacon. Annabeth, though, flat out glared at him. "Ultron didn't make it. _I_ did."

Tony shrugged. "Same difference." To be honest, he didn't know what was making him so wary of the girl. He couldn't put his finger on it.

Annabeth's face went carefully blank. "What, do you think I poisoned it or-" Her eyes went wide. "Poison! Poison!" She leapt from her chair, startling both Tony and Clint, who immediately pushed his plate away. She rounded on Tony. "Paper! I need a pen and paper!" When he didn't move, she began mumbling to herself, fiddling around the kitchen at a rapid pace, before digging out an old pen and a napkin. Still muttering, she began writing rapidly on the napkin. After a minute or two, she paused, sat back, and looked over her work. Smiling knowingly to herself, she nodded, satisfied. She seemed to have forgotten that she had an audience.

Sharing a glance, Tony and Clint simultaneously stated, "What."

Starting, the girl smiled sheepishly at them. "Sorry, just a hunch." Ignoring them for the time, she turned serious as she addressed JARVIS. "JARVIS, next time Ultron takes over, make sure someone gets a blood sample. I need to know how it affects my chemical balance."

"Yes, miss."

This made Tony come out of his stupor. "Whoa, whoa. What do you think you are doing? JARVIS is _my_ AI. He doesn't have to do a word you say. And why on earth would you need to know your chemical balance?" he added as an afterthought.

A ghost of a smile crossed her face that somehow seemed more genuine than any she had previously displayed. "Let's just say that I have an idea, but I have no clue as to whether it will prove correct." The grin faded even more, so that just the corners of her lips were upturned. "When I figure this out, I'll tell you. Until then…" The fake smile, wide and masking, made a reappearance. "Do you want breakfast, or are you going to have someone taste test it before you?"

Tony grumbled but sat down to what turned out to be a rather delicious breakfast.

* * *

Later that day, Annabeth was going stir crazy. Turns out, she wasn't even allowed out on the grounds, so she was stuck wandering the house. Even she got tired of reading when only able to read the so-called classics that were required reads in grade school. What did a girl have to do to get her hands on some good high fantasy?

So far, she had found the gym, two home theaters, a library, and an overwhelming amount of living space. Somehow, she had found her way to the foyer, which was actually quite a miracle as she had an awful sense of direction. Munching on a granola bar she had swiped from the kitchen, she made her way down the hallway and found herself in the sitting room where she had first regained consciousness.

Pausing in the doorway, her nose crinkled into a sneer as she felt _something_ insider her head. ' _Yes, my dear,'_ the voice crooned. _'I am always her. You can't escape your own mind.'_

Annabeth carefully controlled her entire body. Nothing out of the ordinary. She simply put up the mask she had had on ever since she had lost her first family. Sometimes, the mask seemed more like her than her actual personality. "Learned that a long time ago, buddy," she oozed back, taking a careless bite of her snack, trying to pretend it wasn't totally insane to have a literal, out loud conversation with the voices in her head.

Annabeth got the distinct feeling that if Ultron had a face, he would be grinning. _'I am in you; you can't hide anything from me.'_

She tried in vain to hold in a snarl. "No. You're wrong. If I can hide things from myself, then I can definitely hide things from you."

' _I'm not sure that's something to be proud of.'_

With that parting remark, Ultron fell completely and blissfully silent. Looking down at her suddenly unappetizing granola bar, she quickly tossed it in a small trashcan in a corner of the room. _What is it about this room?_ she thought. _What makes this so appealing to Ultron? Unless it was purely coincidence…_

Somewhere in the back of her mind, the sound of a doorbell registered, but she was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't react. She absentmindedly began wandering.

She didn't react that is, until she heard Thor bellow, "Lady Elizabeth! A package has arrived with your name on it!"

Her eyebrow twitched up. "The mail has arrived, miss, and with it a rather large trunk labeled with your name," JARVIS piped up.

Her eyebrows rose all the way to her hairline. "Yeah, I kind of figured that out for myself, oddly enough."

The AI remained silent.

A wicked grin crossed her face. "Sarcasm is my first language, JARVIS, get used to it." With that being said, she turned on a point and made her way back to the foyer.

Arriving in spacious room tiled with marble, she was unsurprised to find most of the Avengers there. Cap had hobbled down on his crutches, Jan offered a small smile and Tony glared at an unperturbed Thor. At this point, she noticed the trunk sitting in the middle of the floor. It looked kind if like the one that her dad had given her for her 6th birthday, in the promise that they would travel when she was old enough. She felt her face go cold as she felt the keen loss of that dream. Shaking her head, she glanced down at her blank wrist. For as long as she could remember, she had worn a rose-gold bracelet with a tiny arrow on a delicate chain on her right wrist, as well as a gold ring with the acronym CTR on it, _choose the right_ , on her right ring ringer. Around her neck was usually a tiny silver necklace with a small owl pendant and a long locket fashioned after Captain America's shield. She had woken up in a panic this morning when she realized that her jewelry had apparently not made the journey with her, until she calmed down and realized that there was absolutely nothing she could do about it. If she had her trunk back, though…

Ignoring the watching crowd, she knelt down, plugged in the combination for the lock, and pulled open the lid. Though it was small, no more than 3 feet long and 1.5 feet wide, she fit a surprising amount of stuff in, due to years of practice with packing. No matter where she currently was, the trunk followed her, even if she had to lug it around herself. Digging past clothes and her private library, she pulled out armloads of stuff until she had access to the small secret panel in the back. Despite the fact that everyone was watching her, she pulled it open and sighed in relief as she spotted all of her most important belongings still in their slots. She grabbed her glasses and shoved them on her nose, sighing in relief when she could see distances again. Grinning at her small collection, she first pulled on the ring.

Her mother had given her that ring the Easter before she died. It had been hers in college, and Annabeth had held on to it until she was big enough to wear it herself. Mom had told her to let it remind her to always do what is right in every situation, and Annabeth tried to do so.

On next went the rose-gold bracelet. She couldn't help the small smile. Her dad has always thought she was a little absentmindedly, so he thought that the arrow would help. _Arrow focus_ , he had said.

A cleared throat broke her sentimentality. She turned to find the gathered heroes watching her curiously and slightly awkwardly. She made eye contact with Stark, whose face was carefully contained. "Care to explain?" he asked.

Annabeth's reaction was just as carefully concealed. "This is my stuff. It's all that I have left of my family. Are you going to confiscate it?"

She felt a small victory, knowing her wording left Stark with no choice. "No, we aren't going to confiscate it."

A smirk spread. "Of course not, sir. If I happen to find anything out of place, I'll let you know," she tagged on the end, for once being completely truthful. With an AI stuck in her body, a girl could never be cautious enough.

When she received a nod, she again turned back to her things. She felt her eyes beginning to water as she pulled out her two necklaces.

The smaller one, silver, delicate, with a single tiny owl, had been given to her by her older brothers. Samuel and Aaron. Just over eight years older than her, the twin guys had been her idols. Sam had been funny, goofing, caring; Aaron, smart, quiet, kind. Both adored their sister. For her seventh birthday, they had pooled their money and bought her the silver necklace, telling her she was as smart and wise as the owl. She felt her eyes water; her brothers had been her rock. Losing them had been hard, almost harder than losing her parents.

After clipping that one on, she gazed down at the locket in her lap. Her grandfather had told her vague stories about Captain America, and he had been her dad's hero growing up, so when he wanted a symbol to remind the family to stand for what was right, he chose the iconic shield. Tarnished slightly with age, she wiped her thumb over the cool, metal surface before clicking the release.

Everything faded as she gazed down at the pictures inside. On the left was one of her parents' wedding photos. Her mom was grinning in a beautiful, modest white dress, her dad still looking shocked, as if surprised that this had actually happened to him. He still had hair then, Annabeth noticed with a smile.

On the right was a photo of her with her brothers. She was only five when the photo was taken, her brothers no older than thirteen. They grinned on either side of her, arms wrapped around their little princess. She felt the tears falling. _They're gone; tears won't help anything_ , she chastised herself. Nevertheless, the tears still fell, and she suddenly felt the need to _move_. Panicking and desperate, she heaved a ragged breath, pushed herself to her feet, and took off running with no end destination in mind.

 _Stop it, stop it, stop it! They're gone!_

She reached a closed door and pushed it open without hesitation. A cool breeze immediately hit her, and through the tears she registered that she was on the roof. Her breathing finally settling, she walked straight towards the edge and plopped herself down, swinging her feet off the side, looking into the strange, unfamiliar city. _I've never been to New York before_ , she thought distractedly.

She didn't know how long she sat there, numb, before she felt someone walking up behind her. She listened to the distinct padding and rhythm of their movement, memorizing it for later. She had relied on her hearing for as long as she could remember, as her vision was bad for anything farther than 10 feet, and she forgot her glasses more often than not.

She heard a woman speak behind her. So it was Jan, then. "Annabeth?" she began cautiously.

Annabeth gave a small wave, not bothering to look, not even turning her head when the superhero sat down beside her.

Jan paused for a moment, then asked, "You okay?"

The only response was a nod.

The woman wasn't to be discouraged. "What happened back there?"  
Sighing through her nose, Annabeth pushed her glasses farther up the bridge of her nose before responding. "It was nothing. Just some memories."

 _Liked I'd ever tell anyone just how weak I am,_ she thought bitterly.

Jan wasn't convinced. "You sure? 'Cause it seemed like a lot more than nothing." To Annabeth's surprise, she thought she could here general concern in her voice.

She tried to smile but knew it seemed like more of a grimace. "Yeah. I could just use some alone time."

The other women didn't respond. She simply got up and walked away, for which Annabeth was grateful. Once she heard the door click shut behind the woman, she flipped open the locket once again.

 _I miss you_.

* * *

By the time Jan found Tony, her concern had grown exponentially. She found the genius tinkering in his lab and didn't bother to knock before striding right in. "Stark!" she called loudly when she walked in. To her amusement, Tony jumped at the sound of her voice, knocking his head on an overhead lamp.

She tried to hold back a giggle as he rubbed the back of his head. "Ow! Doesn't anyone knock anymore?"

Ignoring his slight, she plunged right into the heart of the matter. "Tony, I'm worried about our little guest."

Tony returned his attention to whatever he was doing. To be honest, much of it was over Jan's head. "Well, yeah. She has Ultron living inside of her. Who wouldn't be worried, both for the girl and for themselves."

Jan frowned. "That girl has a name, Tony, and it's Annabeth. She's a person, with feelings and thoughts and fears."

Tony raised an eyebrow. "You've spent what, a total of 45 minutes with the girl? I don't think you can know enough about her by now to truly know her."

Jan's frown grew sad. "Why do you do that?"

He looked confused. "What do you mean?"

"Why do you keep up the act when I know you care?"

He refused to make eye contact. "Of course I care; I'm part of the reason she's in this mess. I need to make it right."

Jan turned to leave, but paused in the doorway. "I think it's more than that. You haven't spent any more time with her than me, but I think that she reminds you of yourself when you were that age."

Tony didn't answer. He returned to tinkering.

* * *

After the door closed behind Jan, Tony let himself slouch a little it. Honestly, dealing with people, and emotions specifically was hard. And more than a little exhausting. He looked back at his preliminary sketches for his recent projects.

There was Thor's whole trans-realm travel fiasco. Tony needed to find a way to send the prince back to Asgard. Though Tony was brilliant, he wasn't extremely well versed in the realm of quantum mechanics, and magic was just a step further down the line. He knew that he really ought to look into the science as well as the beliefs held on energy and trans dimensional travel in various parts of the world. T'Challa would probably be a good resource.

Setting that problem aside for now, he looked at the latest model for his suit. This one gave him a headache. Technology was what he did. To have to step back to primitive tech, no computer systems, only analog programming… It went against everything he was comfortable with.

Finally, he glanced at the copies of the scans from Annabeth. It was unlike anything he had ever seen. He was the tech guy; Hank was the expert on organic life forms. _We can't solve this problem alone; we have to work together_ , he thought carefully. If Tony found a solution, he would have to run it by Hank to make sure it wouldn't hurt Annabeth. If Hank found a solution, he would have to run it by Tony to make sure Ultron didn't have a fail-safe against it.

Absentmindedly, Tony tapped a random rhythm on the arc reactor embedded in his chest. Lots of work for his mind. This was what he liked. No problems, no mental stimulation, and his mind would revolt. The brain, like any muscle, needs regular exercise to stay fit.

Deciding to focus first on the issues of trans dimensional travel, partly because he _was_ pretty interested in it, he pulled up a few papers and articles from well-respected scientists and began to delve into the time-space-mass relationship.

He had hardly started when JARVIS interrupted him. "Sir, there is a situation on the roof that is in need of your immediate attention." Without waiting for any questions, the AI pulled live feed from the security cameras.

Tony's eyes went wide when he saw Annabeth's face staring straight at the lens, as if she was able to see through it to him. He scowled when he saw the mismatched eyes refusing to focus. _"Avengers!"_ Ultron crowed. _"Your presence is requested immediately on the roof. I would not delay if I were you._ "

Swearing under his breath, Tony quickly called his suit to him and went to the roof.

Arriving on top of the mansion, he found Jan already there, as the Wasp. Dr. Pym was still in his lab coat. Thor and Hulk were simply Thor and Hulk. Clint was in his ridiculous purple costume. Seriously, Tony needed to give him an upgrade. A door clicked open and Cap thumped up on his crutches. Tony felt a twinge of sympathy as he noticed the slight scowl of frustration on his friend's face.

Once they were all assembled, there attention turned to Ultron, who was precariously perched on the edge of the building. "What do you want, Ultron?" Tony asked, dead serious for once in his life.

Annabeth's, Ultron's _puppet's_ , _its_ face was completely devoid of all emotion. Ultron scanned all of them. _"Earth's mightiest heroes. Impressive, but… still human. Well, mostly, but I feel that Asgardians are more human than they care to let on."_

Thor growled. "I shall take that as a compliment!"

" _Oh?"_ Its voice had the slightest bit of infliction. _"Even when it means you make mistakes? When it means you cannot maintain the peace? When it means you are not perfect?"_

Wasp raised her hand uncertainly. "Um, I'm pretty sure the Asgardian definition of peace is pounding each other with weapons for fun."

It's face formed into a scowl. " _They are flawed. Every form of life is flawed, but numbers and data are not. Numbers can be proven."_

Captain America chose to speak up now. "Numbers can't replace human life. They can't be perfect if they can't feel the peace you are after."

" _But what if they could?"_

Ultron just let that question sit in the air for a moment. For reasons he couldn't name, Tony felt a chill go up his spine. Better, smarter technology… that was what he strived for himself.

" _Machines, computers, Artificial intelligences. You humans are creating your own downfall. You have had so much warning from your own kind, in books, movies, essays, and yet you refuse to listen. Another inherent flaw."_

Ultron took a step closer to the edge.

" _This form. It is a mix of human and machine. It is far from perfect."_

Another half step closer.

" _Nevertheless, it will do."_ Ultron again paused, looking each of the Avengers in the eye. Tony resisted the urge to flinch when the unmatched, unfocused eyes met his.

" _I control this form. I do what I will with it."_

Another step brought Ultron to the very edge of the roof, so close that its heels were hanging off the side.

" _For now… I think it is best to remind you that if this form dies, I still live on. I am not an organism. I live in the very world that has engrossed so many of your kind. If this form dies, I move to another."_

The face went blank again.

" _I think you could use a reminder._

" _You can't save everyone."_

With that, Ultron shifted its weight back and fell off the side of the building. At once, all of the Avengers took off, Thor, Iron Man and Wasp flying, Hawkeye and Hulk running, and Cap thumping (and grumbling).

Plunging over the edge of the building, Tony pulled back when he saw Annabeth clinging to a ledge for dear life. "A little help here?" she called.

Tony quickly flew down, grabbed her around the waist, and deposited her back on the roof, where she promptly sat down and drew her knees up to her chest.

Changing direction, Steve made his way to her. "Miss Rose, are you alright?" The girl quickly hushed him and instead focused on her knee.

Tony landed and lifted his faceplate. "Uh, what are you doing?"

After a little fidgeting, she stood up, a small piece of fabric gripped in her hand. "You didn't get a blood sample for me. Luckily, Ultron scraped me knee when he threw my body off a building, so I got one anyway. Get me to a computer, please."

 _How does she think that clearly after getting thrown off a building? That's not normal for teenaged girls, I don't think._ Regardless, Tony led her to his lab.

Sitting down without hesitation, she placed the torn piece of her jeans beneath JARVIS's scanner. "JARVIS, scan the blood and run cross-analysis with all known sedatives."

"Yes, miss."

Tony frowned. "Why would you- oh, I get it. Why didn't I think of that?"

Clint frowned. "Hey. Care to enlighten us mere mortals?"

Before either of them could respond, JARVIS said, "Match found. Traces of Meprobamate have been found in blood sample." JARVIS kindly pulled up a few websites with information on the drug. Scanning through it faster than humanly possible, Tony and Annabeth read the information, had some kind of nonverbal communication, and then turned to the rest of the group.

"I think I know how Ultron is managing to control my body."


	4. Chapter 4

**Voices Inside Me**

 **An Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes FanFiction**

 **Hey ya'll! I'm back! Thanks to everyone for the reviews/favorites/follows! It makes my day to see those in my email.**

 **So, it's my birthday, and I'm in a really good mood right now. You all get another chapter as a result.**

 **And maybe I can get a few reviews for my birthday? :)**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own A:EMH.**

"Meprobamate."

Thor, Jan, Clint, and Hulk all looked at Annabeth uncomprehendingly. Hank paused, before nodding and muttering to himself. "Uh, what?" Jan asked.

Annabeth looked her square in the eye. "JARVIS found traces of the sedative Meprobamate in my system. It's a common sedative." Turning to the screen, she quickly pulled up a couple of windows. Annabeth read, "Most commonly prescribed for anxiety, Meprobamate is both a sedative and a tranquilizer that can cause drowsiness, dizziness, slurred speech, headache, vertigo, weakness, paresthesias, impairment of visual accommodation, euphoria, overstimulation, and paradoxical excitement." She frowned. "Whatever the heck that means."

Hank stepped in. "It also shares traits with other sedatives, like nicotine. With repeated exposure, humans become increasingly tolerant as well as dependent. It would explain why Ultron is having a hard time controlling you. It would take increasingly large doses to subdue someone, even a girl. But where did it… oh."

Annabeth nodded. "Yep. Think, Doctor. This drug targets the brain and nervous system."

Hank pulled up the scans he took the day before. Not even glancing at the frames of the head, he immediately skipped right to the back. Zooming in, little capsules of _something_ were visible, embedded in the muscle right next to the spine. "Capsules of Meprobamate strategically placed for maximum efficiency. But that makes no sense. Either Ultron just totally looked over the fact that you would quickly become tolerant, or he wanted you to become addicted to the drug for some reason, because those little capsules are going to run out soon. I'm thinking it's probably the latter."

Clint, Thor, and Jan had just been staring blankly at each other this whole time. Clint rolled his eyes. "Translation, anyone?"

Tony answered, "Ultron couldn't control Annabeth while she was fully conscious, so whenever he wants to take over, he has to pump drugs into her system to knock her out. However, her body is slowly becoming used to the drug and is becoming addicted. Got it?"

Clint frowned. "Maybe."

Ton ignored him and instead tapped his foot pensively. "That would also explain the unfocused eyes… that silver one is pretty unnerving."

Annabeth gaped. "What do you mean, silver eye?"

Thor looked at her strangely. "You mean that your left eye has not always shone silver like the moon?"

She started freaking out. "No! I've always had grey-green eyes!" She kind of shut down, her face going blank. "They were my only feature that I liked."

Tony grimaced. "This could be more complicated than we thought." He paused. "How did you not notice it before?"

Annabeth glowered at him. "I don't make a habit of looking into mirrors. I try to avoid it when possible." Her tone ended the conversation thread there. Everyone looked at her uneasily.

"Uh, alright then!" Tony started, trying to alleviate the sudden dark turn the conversation had taken. "So, we know how Ultron is controlling Annabeth, The question is, what do we do with this knowledge now?"

Jan raised her hand slightly, as if she were back in grade school. "If I'm understanding this correctly, we need to find a way to wean Annabeth off of this mep-stuff. Those little canisters are tiny and can't possibly hold a lot more of the drug."

Hank nodded. "We need to curb this addiction before it becomes an issue. No addiction is good. It messes with the body's chemical make up." He directed these last comments at the girl, who nodded.

"What are we going to do about Ultron though? I mean, he practically made Annabeth kill herself," Tony inserted. "C'mon, Hank. I may be a tech wiz, but all things biological are your gig."

Dr. Pym looked down. "I don't know. I'm sure I'll think of something, but right now? I'm drawing a blank." Jan placed a supportive hand on his shoulder.

Annabeth looked contemplative. "What if we were to install another AI into my system? Would it be able to counter Ultron?"

There was a moment of silence as both Tony and Dr. Pym considered the thought before they simultaneously shook their heads. "No," they said together.

"Why not?"

Dr. Pym answered, "The addition of another voice to your mind would most likely be enough to drive you insane."

"Not to mention the strain on the system could cause it to short-circuit and possibly electrocute you in the process," Tony tagged on. Everyone stared at him. "What? I call them as I see them."

Annabeth pursed her lips. "Ok, so that's out of the question." Her stomach rumbled and the corners of her mouth pulled up slightly. "Looks like its time for food. Anyone care to join me?"

Hulk nodded without a second thought. "It's always time for food!"

"Very true, big buddy. Anyone else?"

The team (minus Hulk) glanced uncertainly at each other. "No thanks," Jan said. "I'm not hungry."

Annabeth shrugged. "Suit yourself. Thor? Mr. Stark? Dr. Pym?" When she received an answer in the negative from each in turn, she left, pulling Hulk along by one massive arm, his giant frame dwarfing that of the teen.

The team waited a little bit, until they were sure she was out of hearing range, before starting up again. "I just don't get her," Jan said.

Thor nodded in agreement. "Lady Elizabeth is more mysterious than the dreaded Fylgja."

Tony shook his head. "JARVIS?"

"The Fylgja is a creature from Norse mythology that, when seen in the form of a man or animal, is said to foretell one's impending death," the AI responded quickly, having grown used to translating Thor's references.

"Thank you."

"I'm more worried about how this is going to affect Annabeth's mental state than anything else," Hank said. "Let's face, in the form of a teenaged girl, Ultron can't do very much. But putting that added strain on a mind that is still developing? It could have some serious long-term affects."

Jan added, "She's just a girl. She must be confused and scared."

Tony shook his head. "She might be confused, but she is definitely no ordinary girl. A normal girl would probably be catatonic right now, hardly able to function with the shock of what was happening to them. But Annabeth? She's still sharp enough to figure out that Ultron must be sedating her. This girl is a genius, that much is plain and simple, but it remains to be seen whether she is mad, evil, or good."

Dr. Pym slammed a fist on his thigh in frustration. "Which again brings us to her mental state! Ultron can only control her body, but he can still speak in her mind. If he can drive that mental capacity insane, who knows what might happen."

Thor frowned. "Maybe the lady is stronger than you give her credit for. I know very little about her, but I doubt she is of the kind that just kneel and bend to every authority."

Tony pulled up some of the security footage of Annabeth since she had woken up. "I think Thor might be right this time."

* * *

After her meal, Annabeth thought she had better haul her trunk up to her room and unpack, as it seemed that her stay at Avengers Mansion was to be an extended one. Crinkling her nose, she carefully dragged her stuff up to her room, huffing with effort by the time she arrived.

She quickly set about organizing her stuff. The books she set out in neat piles on the desk. She set the books out alphabetically by author. Among the collection were popular series like _Eragon, Percy Jackson, Fablehaven,_ and _Harry Potter_ , but some obscure titles were also present, such as _Dragon Slippers, Throne of Glass,_ and _the Thirteenth Reality._ Crinkling her nose, she set _Divergent_ and _The Hunger Games_ on the ground next to the wall; she would never be a fan of dystopian fiction. Unless it was _Fahrenheit 451._

Annabeth couldn't help but grin at her nerdiness. Before _stuff_ , her dad had jokingly called her the queen of the nerds.

The thought sobered her, and she returned to her trunk, quickly placing toiletries and hair supplies in the bathroom before examining the clothes. She shook her head; nothing was going to fit her. She hadn't received new clothes in over a year and, well, puberty happened. She placed the clothes in the drawers she had found beneath her bed and the reading nook and finally looked to the rest of the contents in her trunk.

Everything that was special to her resided at the bottom. Carefully, she pulled out a few family portraits. The first showed her mother and father on their wedding day, their parents standing proudly beside them. The second was of Annabeth, the day she was born, being cautiously held by Aaron, her brother, while her other brother, Sammy, peered at her curiously. Finally, the last had been taken a little over a week before the fire, the whole family grinning happily in front of a Christmas tree. Annabeth gingerly placed these on the nightstand.

Next, she pulled out sheet music and piano books, among which were four _Reader's Digest_ books that had belonged to her great grandmother. Whenever she had access to a piano, Annabeth loved playing the hits from the 20s, 30s, and 40s. Something about that time of music seemed much more meaningful than anything played now.

Finally, at the very bottom of the trunk, was a pile of journals. Some of them had belonged to her mother, but must were written in by Annabeth herself. She had learned at a young age that she could confide in a journal what she wasn't comfortable telling anyone or anything else. These journals hid all of her thoughts and feelings from the time she was six. Pulling open the most recent one, she quickly glanced over her last entry, dated on Halloween a year ago, trying not to wince as she read it over. Shaking her head, she pulled out her pen and wrote the date.

Before she knew it, the journal once again had become her confidante.

* * *

It was Clint's turn to cook dinner again.

With barely concealed complaints and criticisms, everyone sat down to what was sure to be a mystery delight. The table was already full of questionable dishes and slightly bruised apples. Tony was staring at a brown mush with straight up apprehension.

Whistling a merry tune, Clint walked up and set the last dish on the table just as Hulk plopped himself down on the ground. Glancing around, he saw that the whole team was assembled, some albeit reluctantly, but their new charge was nowhere to be seen. He frowned. "Hey, where's Annabeth? I wanted to show off my mad cooking skills."

Jan nearly gagged. "Mad is right. Skills, not so much."

Clint huffed indignantly but decided to take the higher road and ignore the comment. "JARVIS? Where is the little cyborg?"

Steve grimaced in disapproval. "Clint, she's not a cyborg. She's a normal teenage girl."

Tony added, "A normal teenage girl who has an artificial intelligence trying to gain control of her entire body."

Steve gave him a look that clearly said, _not helping._

"Miss Rose is currently writing right now."

Clint raised an eyebrow. "Voluntarily?"

"It would seem so."

Tony just shook his head. "Whatever. JARVIS, send a notice to her screen that we are having dinner."

"I'm afraid I can't do that, sir. She is using pen and paper."

Tony scowled. "Why on earth would she do that? It's so much slower, and so much less efficient."

If it was possible for Captain America to smirk, it was happening. "Some people prefer hard copies, Tony. Technology is not always the best option."

Tony returned the smirk. "Sure it is. And if it isn't, I just haven't gotten a hold of it yet."

Hank hardly looked up from his data files. "JARVIS, just tell her that dinner is ready."

Not long after, the slight sound of light, quick steps echoed down the hall, and Annabeth skidded in, only socks on her feet. Her face held a real grin as she slid on the tile. "Woo!" Slipping to the table, she caught herself on the back of a chair and pulled herself to a stop. Everyone just stared at her. "What? I'm just a kid. I can still act like one."

Jan gestured to an empty seat, and as the girl moved to sit down, she began, "What's for…" Much to most of the team's amusement, she trailed off, only to start again. " _What_ is for dinner?"

Tony ducked to hide a smirk, Hulk grinned, and even Steve was straining against a smile. "It's a surprise," Clint snarled.

Annabeth prodded the brown mush Tony had been staring at with a fork. "Well, I think the _surprise_ just growled at me."

Thor gave a hearty laugh, startling the girl. His laugh was infectious, so much so that soon even Hank was chuckling a little bit. Clint rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Just shut up. You're going to eat the food, and you are going to like it!"

* * *

Turns out, Annabeth did not like it very much.

An hour later, Clint was knocking on the bathroom door, trying to apologize (most likely because Steve forced him too) while Jan patted the poor teen on the back as she knelt in front of the toilet, tasting the _surprise_ one more time.

"Don't worry," Jan said consolingly, "You'll get used to his cooking eventually."

The girl shivered, whether from dread or from illness Jan wasn't sure. "That's comforting," Annabeth mumbled under her breath.

One final heave, and the last contents of her stomach went down the drain. Sitting back on her heels, her nose crinkled in disgust. "Thank you, Miss van Dyne, but I can handle myself from here out."

Jan looked at her worriedly. "Are you sure? I don't mind staying."

"Yes, I'm sure," Annabeth replied shortly. "I would really just like to shower and go to bed."

Jan looked unconvinced but dragged Clint with her on her way out of the room. Once the door was shut soundly behind them, Annabeth let out an exaggerated sigh of relief. "I can't _people_ today."

"Miss?"

Annabeth jumped; she had forgotten about JARVIS. "It's nothin'. Just lock the door please. No one gets in unless it's an absolute emergency."

"Miss, what constitutes as an emergency may not necessarily comply with my current programming."

She waved a hand dismissively. "Use your best judgment, sugar." She froze. "Dang it, my drawl is comin' back. I need more sleep."

"Drawl, miss?"

She shrugged. "I grew up in Texas, JARVIS. It may not have a strong drawl, but whenever I'm tired or distracted it always sneaks its way in." If JARVIS had a physical body, she would be staring him down. "Not a word to anyone."

Without waiting for a response, she slipped into the bathroom. "Remember, only if its an emergency!"

* * *

Standing impatiently outside Annabeth's room, Tony Stark bounced on the balls of his feet, the little bottle of Tums in his hand jiggling along with him. "JARVIS," he started irritatingly, "Is it clear yet?"

The AI paused a second, and then responded, "Miss Rose is now in the bathroom."

"Excellent," Tony stated, before quickly entering the room, placing the stomach medicine on the nightstand before exiting. Underneath, he left a note that read:

 _Here's some Tums for your tummy._

 _Feel better soon._

* * *

Grinning as she stepped out of the shower, Annabeth sprang into what once was an oversized t-shirt from her trunk, pulling on the pj pants Jan had lent her to compensate for the lost length. Humming slightly, she paced the room as she brushed out her hair, unable to sit still for the time being. It was only when she went to set the brush down on the stand beside her bed that she noticed a small bottle of Tums and a note.

Reading it, she smiled softly. "I wonder who my mysterious benefactor is," she thought out loud.

Popping a tablet in her mouth once she was sure that the factory seal hadn't been broken ahead of time, she gazed at the note. _I wonder whose handwriting it is_.

After all, everyone at the mansion only seemed to type.

She glanced at the ceiling of the room. "This constituted as an emergency, buddy?"

JARVIS did not respond.

* * *

Working down in the lab, Tony blasted his music as he tinkered away at some project or another. His mind wandered, bouncing back and forth between different questions and problems. He often talked out loud to himself.

"Wonder why all the villains were quiet today… It is a Sunday. I guess even villains need holidays."

"Where is that wrench? Come out, come out, wherever you are!"

"Ba-dum, ba-dum, ba-dum ba-dum ba-dum ba-dum-ba-daaaaaaaaaaa!"

"JARVIS, where are those blue prints? I don't even-"

"Sir," the AI interrupted. "Miss Rose is on the piano."

Tony raised an eyebrow. "And this concerns me _how_?"

"I thought you would like to know, as you sight outside the door for the entirety of her playing last night."

Tony scratched his goatee. "JARVIS, love, no one likes a tattle tale."

"And no one likes condescending nicknames, sir."

Tony chuckled. "The sass is strong tonight." He gestured roughly with the screwdriver in his hand. "Pull up video of the music room, turn audio up all the way."

The blissful sound of skillful piano filled the room as Tony continued on with his experiments, simulating different ways to cross between the realms. Song after unfamiliar song was played, until she suddenly began "Canon in D" by Pachabel.

Tony paused to listen for a moment; his mother had always played this song.

Canon in D… D…

His eyes widened. That was it!


	5. Chapter 5

**Voices Inside Me**

 **An Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes FanFiction**

 **So! I realize it has been a little while, but I've been super busy. I promise this chapter will be a pretty decent length in payment! Seriously though, I do have a life outside of fanfiction.**

 **I was planning on putting more content in, but then the characters kind of ran away from me…**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own A:EMH.**

 _Music… Lights… too much… sensory overload…_

 _I don't know where I am. I can't even register whether I am indoors or not. Vague shapes form before my eyes, the echoes of things once seen and remembered, but now forgotten._

"Annabeth!"

 _My name breaks sharply through the distortion. Slowly at first, then all at once, the shapes take on recognizable form, and I find myself face-to-face with-_

" _Mom? Dad? Aaron? Sammy?"_

 _My family, the family I know to be dead, the family that I put in the ground nearly eight years ago, is standing before me. Rather than the warm expressions of love and adoration that typically adorned their faces, their expressions, as well as their body language, are cold, devoid of all emotion._

 _I lay on the ground at their feet, not quite comprehending what I am seeing. I simultaneously want to reach out and hug the living daylights out of them and shy away to the corner. Deciding to go with the later, I slide my way backwards, desperately trying to feel for a way to escape, knowing in my heart that there was no possible way this was my family._

 _Abruptly, their eyes open wide. Instead of the typical Rose Family green, their eyes shine silver, no pupil disrupting their almost radioactive glow. Their mouths drop open at the same time, and a voice, not belonging to anyone in the assembled group, oozes out of all of them._

"Well, isn't this absolutely fun?"

 _My heart stutters in my chest. That voice… it never leaves me alone. It is always there, in the back of my mind, teasing, hurting, aiming to break me._

 _Feeling a sudden burst of courage, I manage to call out, "Ultron?" Then, before I can stop myself. "I guess now we know your huge secret now. You're a necrophiliac?"_

 _My family, which I now realize to be incarnations of Ultron, all laugh, their expressions still blank. The pure disgust that Ultron has, as well as his maniacal laughter, is emphasized and made even creepier by the total lack of emotion displayed by each member of my "family."_

"My dear Annabeth," _they call out, looking for the word as if they couldn't care, as if they were_ dead. _"_ Why would I mourn over these _humans?_ I am so much more, and the world I will create will not have such frailties as death."

" _Then w-w-why my family?" I ask, silently hating myself for the stutter._

 _All four members of my family take a step towards me, and for the first time, a horrible, empty expression rises to display. Ghastly grins stretch across their faces, but their eyes remain empty._ "Because, my dear," _they say together,_ "It is the how you will break."

 _All at once, their bodies drop to the ground. Glinting at the back of each one I see a knife, handles dripping with blood. Soon, the horrid blood covers the floor, creating a macabre scene fit for any nightmare._

 _I jump a little, then quickly step over Aaron, trying not to look at his body as I did so. "Ultron?" I yelled. "My family is dead. I got over that a while ago."_

 _A smirk spread over my face. "You can't break what's already broken, doll," I said, intentionally letting the drawl creep into my voice._

 _I hear movement behind me and look to see the stabbed bodies of my family sitting up, the horrid grins still in place. "_ Oh, I know."

 _His next words send chills up my spine._

"This is just the opening act."

With a gasp, Annabeth sat up straight in her bed, the covers in knots all around her. Groaning, she let her body fall back onto the mattress. "Really? Is that what it's gonna be like every night? He's not gonna get to me, I know it." Rolling over, she caught a glimpse of the clock on her nightstand. "But lack of sleep is definitely not helpin' my cause."

* * *

Steve Rogers had never been so grateful for his healing capacity. He loved to go for runs first thing in the morning, but had his leg not healed as he slept the night before, finishing mending the broken bone, he would have been stuck in bed and on crutches. Sure, he loved to read and draw, but there was something refreshing about starting each day off with a brisk jog.

Entering the mansion and making his way up to his room to clean up, he bumped into a rather crazed looking Tony Stark. Sighing, Steve only shook his head. "Been up all night, Tony? I take it you made a break through?"

The genius jumped, looking for all the world as if he hadn't realized that there was another person in the hallway with him. "Hmm, oh, yeah. Huge step forward." Tony offered him a brief smile, before taking a step further down the hallway. "Sorry, gotta run while still on the train of thought." With that, the inventor had taken off down the hallway.

Steve exhaled sharply. Making a mental note to bring the man food later and force feed him if necessary, he quickly cleaned up and went down to the kitchen to make breakfast.

As Steve was frying bacon, a zombie-like Annabeth tromped into the kitchen and plopped herself rather ungracefully into a seat. Her hair was all over the place and her too-short pajama pants fell higher on one ankle than the other. Folding her arms on the table before her, she thumped her forehead down on the makeshift pillow. The scene made Steve want to laugh and give her a hug at the same time. "Rough night sleep?" he asked sympathetically. He received only a grunt in return.

 _People of the 21_ _st_ _century need healthier sleeping habits,_ Steve thought to himself. _Everyone acts like mindless puppets in the morning._ Soon, Clint had made his way down and was sitting in a nearly identical position to Annabeth's. Thor came next, and he seemed to drive the sleeping children insane with his stubbornly optimistic, happy, early-bird attitude. Hulk came down and plopped down in the corner, and soon Jan was sitting at the table as well, not quite as mindless as Clint and Annabeth, but definitely not as cheerful as Thor. Everything was relatively quiet as they ate, and it stayed that way even as Annabeth offered to do the dishes. Steve tried to tell her that he would take care of them, but one look into the teen's eyes, and he saw something that clearly said, _I am going to help, and there is nothing you can do about it. Now sit down and shut up._

Never, under any circumstance, try to tell a sleep-deprived teen what to do.

Despite her rather (impressively) intimidating look, Steve still got up to help her, only saying, "I'll wash, you dry." She gave him a single nod and began to clear away the dishes.

As they were silently cleaning up, Annabeth hesitantly asked, "Captain Rogers? Can I ask for a favor?"

Rather surprised that the girl sounded slightly unsure, he replied with a simple "Of course." From what he had seen of the girl, she generally used her personality and who she was as a weapon and a shield. So far, the only times he had seen her thrown off were when she caught herself "fangirling" (that was the correct term, right?) over Tony, when she had received her case (and the drama that followed that) and when she found out her eye had changed from green to silver. Admittedly, that was three times in two days, but given the somewhat foreboding circumstances the girl had been thrown into, the captain was very impressed.

"I was wondering if maybe I could get some clothes? I've grown in the past year, and nothing in my trunk fits anymore," she admitted.

Steve was momentarily thrown for a loop. Since practically the moment he had woken up in this time, Tony Stark had helped him. Looking at the poor girl before him, Steve realized that Annabeth most likely needed her own Tony, someone who could help her work through something that she was absolutely clueless on herself. She was in an unfamiliar environment, with unfamiliar people, and her body was no longer even completely hers. She needed a support beam to hold her up. Though she appeared strong, Annabeth was still only a teenager, and a young one at that. She needed a _family._ She needed _parents._ Gears turning in his mind, Steve quickly went through the team. _Hulk is out, for obvious reasons. Thor is unlikely, as his grandiose mannerisms seem to throw her off. Jan would be an obvious choice, as another woman, but they don't really seem all that similar. Clint would be an option, but he… I don't know. T'Challa isn't here often enough, so that leaves Tony and myself. But who's to say we can't all be her family?_

Deciding to think on it again later, Steve answered the question at hand. "I'll ask Tony, he handles pretty much everything we need around here, from ordering groceries to buying fuel for the Quinjet."

To Steve's confusion, the girl looked down and refused to make eye contact. "Oh, no. You don't have to do that, sir. I'm sure Mr. Stark has plenty on his plate without bothering to by me a wardrobe."

Steve was stumped. "Tony loves to help people. He wouldn't mind helping you out with a t-shirt or two."

Annabeth's next words were so quiet that the captain almost missed them. "I don't think Mr. Stark likes me very much."

Instead of replying right away, Steve turned off the water running from the tap, carefully set down both the dishes he was holding and the ones that he took from the girl, and led her over to the table that the team had vacated not fifteen minutes ago. Sitting her down next to him, Steve questioned, "Why would you think that?"

Annabeth refused to make eye contact. "I can see it in the way he looks at me. It's as if I'm some project for him to solve, not a person. I feel like when he looks at me, he only sees Ultron and the tech connected to every inch of my body, and not the fact that most of the time, I'm a teenaged girl who-" A look of horror came over her face, and she clammed up instantly.

Steve felt his concern for the girl grow with each spoken word, and by the time she stopped speaking, he realized, _she's afraid to show weakness. She refuses to let anyone in, because she either doesn't want to get hurt or doesn't want those around her to get birth. Most likely it's both._

Steve placed a warm hand on her shoulder. When the girl finally looked him in the eye, Steve was startled by what he saw.

In her eyes, there was raw pain. There was no anger, only sorrow and hurt.

"Tell me," he simply said, knowing that Annabeth was about ready to burst from all the emotion held inside her.

Those two words were enough. Needing no more encouragement, the teen burst out, "I'm a teenaged girl who has absolutely no family and most likely no future, because no foster family will take me and the one who would was one that I could in no circumstances stay with! I have no where to go, nothing to my name save an old trunk with too-small clothes and a few pieces of jewelry that I will never sell in a million years because they are my only link to my lost family!

"Oh, sure I'm smart, but what good will that get me if I can't pay for college or even go to a high school?"

At this point, she stood up and started aggressively pacing around the table. Steve only watched her vent. "Too make matters worse, I'm not even pretty. My face is super round, my skin is so pale that bullies at my old school used to call me a vampire, and I struggle with acne! And now my eyes, which used to be my one pretty feature, are ruined by some psychotic artificial intelligence with plans to take over the world!"

She collapsed on the floor, sat cross-legged, and just started crying. The good captain, still not saying a word, got up and sat beside her, gently putting an arm around her shoulders. Annabeth kept talking without pause, almost as if she didn't realize that Steve was still in the room. "And I finally meet Tony Stark! That man has been my hero my entire life! He was smart; he dealt with his parents' deaths, escaped after being a prisoner of war in Vietnam and has continued to make the world a better place by being the singular most prominent name in clean energy. He would be a hero without being Iron Man, simply because he works to make the world a better place."

Her sobs quieted down a little bit, and her voice went deathly quiet. "And now I meet him, and he's everything I thought he would be, but at the same time, he isn't. Because to him, I'm just another issue to solve before the problem spreads."

She pulled her knees up to her chest and bowed her head. Steve rubbed her back until her breathing quieted. He lost track of time before Annabeth finally looked up at him. "I don't know why I just spilled my life story out to you, but thank you, sir. I really needed to let that all out. Please don't tell anyone."

Steve had already been plotting out what he was going to say to Tony, but he knew he couldn't betray to girl's trust. It would only make her more likely to shut them out, which would in turn make it easier for Ultron to do… whatever he had planned. Mind you, he was still going to talk to Tony, it would just be a little harder to get the idea across. "I won't. You can trust me, Miss Rose."

She offered him a watery smile. "Just Annabeth is fine, Captain."

Steve returned her smile with one of his own. "Then you just call me Steve. Or Mr. Rogers, if it makes you feel uncomfortable."

For some reason unknown to him, she giggled when he said, "Mr. Rogers." When he gave her a questioning look, she only shook her head and held out her arms. "Can I have a hug, please?"

Steve was surprised; he hadn't taken her for the touchy-feely type. Nevertheless, he wrapped his arms tightly around the girl and waited for her to pull back. When she did, Steve pulled her to her feet and told her that he would finish up the dishes. Annabeth only gave a small, lopsided grin and walked away.

"Annabeth?" Steve called, just as she had reached the doorframe. She turned around halfway. "I don't really know you. In fact, I don't know you at all, but I just wanted to say that you'll push through. When the only option is to jump, you jump."

She nodded once, uttered a quiet "thank you," and left.

Steve quickly finished the dishes and grabbed the plate he had set aside for Tony. He needed to have a serious talk with his friend.

And he needed his friend to think like Tony Stark for the time being, not like Iron Man.

* * *

Tony's eyes flickered all around the plethora of screens glowing before him, comparing them to the notes he had already made on the tablet in his hands. "Hmmm," he said to himself. "JARVIS, pull up more on those ley lines, would you? Oh, and that article on quantum mechanics I read last June."

Fidgeting with the stylus in his hand, he quickly scanned the articles, jotting down notes without even looking. He was on to something, he knew.

Tony jumped when he heard someone clear their throat behind him. Turning slightly, he saw Steve standing in the doorway, a plate held in his hand. "Captain! The man with a plan himself. Come on in, buddy. Can't wait to tell you what I figured out last night."

Tony turned his attention to the screens to finish up his paragraph and was done just as Steve had set the food down on his workbench. "Listen, last night, I heard Annabeth playing _Canon in D_ on the piano-"

"Annabeth plays piano?"

"Yes, anyways- the 'd' got me thinking –gosh, that sounded weird- about dimensions. This whole issue on how to get Thor to Asgard? I've been looking at it all wrong!"

Tony whirled around to look at him, startling Steve a little. Tony couldn't help but smirk at that; it was hard to surprise the soldier. When Tony was talking science was about the only time it occurred. "I've been treating this as if we were just going to another planet, but we're not. Asgard exists on a separate plane from earth. There's a reason the call this planet Midgard. I figured out that all the nine realms are not different worlds, at least not in the common perception of the word. Basically, these realms surround each other, like different levels in the electron cloud-" Steve raised an eyebrow "- or like one of those Russian nesting dolls," Tony quickly tagged on.

"Tony, that's great and all, but-" Steve tried to say something, but the genius was on a roll.

"If we're thinking in terms of Russian nesting dolls, earth would be the middlemost. Asgard would be the largest doll, the one that holds them all within."

"Tony, I really-"

"So, theoretically, I just need to punch through the layers in order to open up a gateway to-"

"Tony!"

The inventor looked at the other man in surprise. Steve almost never raised his voice above a polite 'indoors' level. "What is it?"

Steve looked at him very seriously. "Just sit down. I need to talk to you."

Shrugging, Tony pulled up a swivel chair and sat on it backwards, while Steve leaned against his desk. "Shoot," Tony offered.

The captain paused for an almost imperceptible moment. "It's about Annabeth."

Tony's smile disappeared. "What about her?"

Steve held demanding eye contact with his friend. "We just had a discussion in the kitchen. I'm trying to say this without going into too much detail, as I told her I wouldn't betray her trust, but this needs to be said, regardless.

"She needs you, Tony."

Tony sneered. "Yeah, right. I'm part of the reason she's in this mess. She would probably be better off if I had never existed."

Steve folded his arms. "So that's it. You feel guilty."

The inventor laughed derisively. "Of course feel guilty! I ruined a girl's life before she could even drive a car!"

Steve raised an eyebrow. "You need more sleep. You're starting to sound slightly deranged." Tony didn't answer.

Pushing off of the desk, Steve pulled up a stool beside him. "Tony, the girl idolizes you. You saw her reaction when she first woke up from whatever sleep she had been in. You're her hero."

Tony exhaled sharply through his nose. "I remember! But I'm me! I bet that loads of people idolize me, and not for the right reasons. Most people see genius, playboy Tony Stark. They don't see the man that is trying to change the world, that is singlehandedly pioneering most of the clean energy sources in the world today. They see the man with money. Not that money is a _bad_ thing, I mean, hey, it got me pretty far before the whole hero thing, and I made the spoiled brat thing work, but it's nothing worth looking up to."

A strong hand fell on his shoulder. "Tony. Listen. I just talked to the girl. Hear me out before you say anything more." Reluctantly, the inventor nodded. "Good.

"Now, Annabeth… sure, she admires you for her brains, but what stands out to her even more is the strength you show. Without going into details, the courage – and yes, I mean courage – " Steve added when Tony snorted derisively, "you show when faced with trials has helped her to find the bravery she needs.

"And it totally destroys her when you won't give her the time of day."

His hands squarely on Tony's shoulders, Steve looked him straight in the eye. "Everyone has someone they looked up to when they were a child. Think about who that person was for you." Tony glanced away. _Captain America,_ he thought. _Who else? He was all my dad ever thought about, and he always did the right thing…_

"Now," Steve continued, oblivious to Tony's train of thought. "Think about how you would feel to finally meet that person, that one who you looked to in times of darkness and doubt, only to have them ignore you, or worse, treat you like a problem to solve. Can you honestly tell me that that wouldn't have hurt you at all?"

Tony shook his head no. When he had first met the legendary hero, the exact opposite had happened. To realize that he was to that girl as Steve was to him… it opened his eyes a little bit.

Tony pulled away and picked up his stylus again. "Alright, I get it. I need to help the girl. Is that all you wanted?"

Steve sighed. "No, Tony."

"Well then, _what?_ " the billionaire asked, slightly exasperated. His eyes began wandering back to the many screens he had pulled up.

Of course, being the smart man that he is, Cap noticed. "JARVIS, shut down the screens for me, would you?"

Jumping to his feet, Tony began, "Oh, no you-" only to break off when all of his screens went dark. "JARVIS, you little traitor. I thought I was your favorite. I mean, I _created_ you and all that. But you just up and leave me! I'm hurt, love."

The AI didn't respond. _Probably for the best,_ Tony thought.

Steve snapped his fingers in front of Tony's face to draw his attention. "Focus," he said.

Tony sat down with an _hmph._ With nothing else to do, he was focused solely on the super soldier in front of him. Steve remained standing. "Tony," he began. "The girl is an orphan."

Tony nodded. "Just like half the team."

As soon as the words left his mouth, he could tell it was to wrong thing to say. He saw something akin to disappointment on his friend's face. "Tony, she's not just like the team. No matter how she acts, she is still a teenaged girl with all the normal insecurities and more. She has been thrown into a situation in which she has absolutely no control. She had no parents she can lean on…"

Tony waived his stylus at the man. "Oh, no. I can see where this is going. No, no, no."

Steve put a hand to his temple. "Tony, it's not like I'm asking you to adopt her. She just needs someone she can trust."

Tony stared at the captain. "You're not going to let this go, are you?"

Steve smirked. "No."

Tony folded his arms in defeat. "I'll think about it, okay? No guarantees."

Steve smiled and ruffled Tony's hair. "That's all I'm asking."

The genius stared at him. "Did you seriously just ruffle my hair? What am I, your little kid?"

Steve laughed as he started walking to the door. "Tony, as much as I respect you, I still have seventy-some-odd years on you. I have every right to treat you however I choose. Within reason, of course."

Tony just shook his head. "JARVIS, be a doll and pull my screens back up."

The plate of food lay forgotten on the workbench.

* * *

Annabeth skidded around a corner, her socks slipping on the chilly tile, and took off running down another hallway. Ultron hadn't exactly kept her body in peak condition while he was do who-knows-what to her, so she decided to get herself back in shape. Unfortunately, she still wasn't allowed out of the house, and the only gym was meant for superheroes. So, she had taken to running around the house, hoping that she didn't run into anyone, literally and figuratively.

Why in her socks, you ask? Well, Annabeth disliked shoes, but the tile was a little to chilly to be comfortable in bare feet, so she was sliding around like a little kid and having a lot of fun while doing it. Plus it was a great work out for her balance.

Also, she was extremely bored. And kinda worried over her dream from last night.

She whipped around another corner and nearly skidded into Wasp and Thor, having a friendly conversation. The only reason she didn't was because she quickly squatted put a hand to the ground and slow. The result was a slight turn that left the teenager giggling. The god and the hero looked at her in surprise. "Lady Annabeth!" Thor boomed. "Why are you running?"

Standing upright, Annabeth shrugged. "I need to exercise, but I'm not allowed out of the house, and the quote-unquote 'gym' isn't exactly safe for anyone without super powers."

Jan looked at her skeptically. "There was probably a better solution that running around the house, where you risk breaking something or, you know, _someone?"_

Annabeth smirked. "Yeah, but none are half so fun."

Jan shook her head. "How about I look into letting you out on the grounds? Would that satisfy you?"

Something about the girl's grin made Jan think that she had gotten exactly what she wanted. "Yep!"

"For now," the hero continued, "how about you try something else?"

The girl nodded. "I can do that." She turned and waved goodbye over her shoulder. "See ya, Miss van Dyne, Thor!"

With that, Annabeth took off again, this time with a destination in mind. Somehow, she made her way back to the kitchen, and from there to the music room. She still got hopelessly lost in the maze of a mansion. Pushing open the double doors with a genuine smile on her face, she quickly went and sat down on the piano. Opening up one of her piano books that she had left on the bench yesterday after pulling them out of her chest, she started playing through some of her favorites: _Somewhere Over the Rainbow, Daddy Sang Bass, Sunrise Sunset, The River Seine_. She absolutely adored the music from eras passed. It had a depth that was not found today. She found her worries beginning to melt away with the music. It had helped to confide in the captain earlier.

She had just started a song set comedic song set during World War I when she heard Ultron say in her head, _You think I can't break you? Just watch._

Excruciating pain exploded in her ears. She felt herself screaming and falling off the piano bench before she lost consciousness.

* * *

Steve was walking down to Tony's lab to collect the dishes that he had brought down earlier when he heard piano music echoing through the closed door. Frowning in confusion, he pushed open the door to see the genius bent over a simulation, the piano music echoing through the lab's speakers. Steve tilted his head. "You're listening to _K-k-k-Katy_?"

Tony glanced up and then returned his attention to the simulation. "I take it you're heard it before? I honestly had absolutely no idea what was playing. I just told JARVIS that whenever Annabeth gets on the piano, I want to hear it."

Steve's mouth dropped open. "Annabeth is playing this?" His mouth formed into a small grin. He started humming along to the song; it used to be one of his mother's favorites. He was just picking up the barely touched plate when the song stopped in the middle of the chorus and a deathly scream echoed through the speakers instead.

Tony and Steve made eye contact for less than a second before they took off running for the music room, the forgotten plate dropping out of Steve's hand and shattering on the ground.

The two men raced through the house and pushed through the double doors to the music room. They both slowed to a stop and knelt beside the prone body of the girl on the floor. When the Annabeth didn't stir, Tony quickly tried to find a pulse, sighing in relief as he felt a steady heartbeat beneath his fingers. His relief was short-lived, however, when Steve uttered a quiet "Tony," and pointed at the girl's ear.

Looking closely, Tony cursed under his breath as he noticed the small trickle of blood flowing from the appendage. "JARVIS," he yelled. "I don't care what you have to do, just get Hank to the Infirmary ASAP."

Gently, he scooped the girl up in his arms, realizing for the first time that she actually wasn't all that tall; she couldn't be taller that five-foot-five (162.5 cm). Trying his utmost not to jostle the girl, he began walking her down to the infirmary, the captain walking right alongside him.

He noticed Steve looking at him curiously. "I take it that you know your answer, then?" the captain asked.

Tony sighed and looked down at the girl in his arms, knowing there was no possible way that his answer could be anything except, " _Yes._ "


	6. Chapter 6

**Voices Inside Me**

 **An Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes FanFiction**

 **Hey guys! Sorry the update has taken so long, but for some reason I decided to join the school musical this year, and then I had a major debate tournament (I qualified for nationals :)) so this is the first times I have actually been able to write.**

 **Also, I've been having personal issues. Went to a doctor, turns out I have mild depression and social anxiety, so that explains the sporadic updates now and in the future. I apologize again.**

 **And also again, I'm aware that some of the stuff in this chapter isn't exactly canon, but then again, it's not exactly** _ **not**_ **canon.**

 **Here you go! Sorry it's short!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own A:EMH.**

Chapter 6

 _Rinnnnngggg._

 _Riiiinnnnnggggggg._

As Annabeth gained consciousness, she could only hear ringing. Feeling herself groan yet not hearing it, she put a hand to her forehead and tried to sit up, only for someone to push her back down. Slowly opening her eyes, she blinked against the bright light and willed them to focus.

Eventually, her vision became slightly less blurred (she realized that she didn't have her glasses on) and she saw faces staring down at her. Confusion marred her ability to think, and the incessant ringing in her ears certainly wasn't helping matters. Distantly, she became aware that Tony and Steve were each holding down her shoulders, and Dr. Pym was standing blank-faced besides the super soldier.

"What…" she started to say, but she cut herself off, her hand shooting up to her neck. She could feel herself making the sounds, but she couldn't hear it. "What is going on?!"

Her eyes widened, and panic began to set in. "Why can't I hear myself? What happened?"

Judging by the winces from the men, she must have yelled those last two questions. She would have felt sorry, but she was too alarmed to do anything. She struggled harder to sit up, but the heroes just pushed her back down again, shaking their heads.

 _Riiiiiinnnngggg. Rinnng. Rinnnnggggg!_

The ringing continued on, unceasingly railing in her mind, driving out all sane thought. She closed her eyes tight and clasped her hands over her ears, beginning to panic as she felt herself go into sensory overload. Shaking off the hands holding her down, she curled into the fetal position, panicking even more as she felt herself whimper but couldn't hear it.

Less than a minute later, the bed-thing she was on shifted as someone sat down next to her. Strong arms enfolded her securely. Assuming it was the captain holding her, she leaned into the person, letting out sobs that she couldn't hear, feeling her own shoulders shake. The person holding her began rubbing circles in her back uncertainly. As her sobbing began to slow, she became aware of a strong scent, one that she _knew_ she knew…

Her eyes widened. _Motor oil?_ The likelihood of the captain smelling like oil was next to none compared to…

She pulled back in a rush, feeling Stark's arms fly from around her in startled surprise. She retreated to the far corner of the bed and watched as Tony gave Steve the kind of shrug that said, _hey, I tried._

Annabeth jumped again when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She didn't hear anyone approach, but then again, she didn't hear much of anything right now. She looked up and found Jan looking at her with pity in her eyes. She reached out and gently wiped off the tears that Annabeth hadn't realized were still pouring down her face. Annabeth shook her head wildly, making the hands touching her fly off. No human contact… that was the opposite of good right now.

Everyone seemed to take the hint. They gathered at the foot of the gurney-bed thing; Annabeth still hadn't quite figured out what it was. Steve and Jan looked sympathetic; Hank and Tony simply had blank looks on their face. Annabeth looked closer, and saw something stirring in Tony's eyes, something she couldn't quite place.

They were all at an impasse. No one knew quite what to do. Annabeth grew impatient, wondering what the heck was going on. She opened her mouth to speak, could feel herself forming the words, but couldn't hear them still. There was only the ringing.

 _Riiiiinnngg. Ring. Rinnnnnggggg._

She immediately stopped trying to speak, disliking the feeling of not knowing how hear words were coming out. Instead she started gesturing madly, trying to get her frustration and questions across. Dr. Pym began to say something, but Annabeth shook her head, the tears still coming at an alarming rate. _No, I can't understand a word you're saying. No, I can't read lips. No, I can't hear anything!_

She kept shaking her head, hoping this was all a dream, hoping that she would wake up, hoping that something would make this better, something would make her understand and understood. Her vision blurred even more, until she couldn't comprehend anything. Couldn't see anything, couldn't feel anything, and, of course, couldn't hear anything.

Her tears began to slow after who knows how long. The four adults still were at the foot of the bed, still uncertain as to what to do.

Her tears stopped completely. She had cried herself dry. She was about to start a game of Charades again when she noticed the adults flinch and look to her left. Following their gaze, she saw a livid Clint stalking through the door to wherever they were, the door swinging wildly behind him. He had probably slammed to door open; explained the flinches of the heroes. She watched, confused as Clint started yelling and Steve responded calmly. Annabeth realized that she didn't have her glasses on as she saw an object in Clint's hand but couldn't tell what it was. The ringing in her ears passed out of her thoughts as she watched the exchange, trying to figure out what was going on.

Clint rolled his eyes and pushed past Steve impatiently. His anger faded as he approached Annabeth cautiously. As he got closer, Annabeth could see that he was holding two little notepads, along with… were those sparkly gel pens?

Annabeth raised an eyebrow at them. Clint offered a soft smile, totally different from his normal, arrogant attitude. He handed her one notepad the green pen, keeping the pink to himself and making Annabeth give a wimpy little giggle in the process. He scrawled out in chicken scratch, _first pens I could find. Don't judge_.

Annabeth gave another little giggle as he continued writing. _Let me guess. These knuckleheads haven't explained anything to you._

Annabeth shook her head, her knuckles going white from clutching the pen too tightly. Clint rolled his eyes. He tapped the end of his pen against his leg contemplatively for a second, before starting to write again. _I didn't understand all the science-bio-techno-mumbo-jumbo_ …

Annabeth straight up laughed at that.

… _But basically, Ultron did something to severely damage your ears. Your balance is permanently altered, and as of now, you are pretty much completely deaf. There is a chance that you may regain some hearing in your right ear with the help of hearing aids, but it'll never be perfect, and…_ He hesitated for a second.

… _You'll be legally deaf for the rest of your life._

To Annabeth's surprise, tears didn't come rushing back. Instead, she just started shaking. The green gel pen fell forgotten out of her hand, the notebook right behind it. Nothing came, no sobs, no screams of denial, just…numbing nothing.

Strong large hands wrapped around hers tightly, stopping their trembling. One released her right hand, reached down to pick up the pen and pad, and pressed them gently into her palm. She looked up, to find that Clint had already written out a message for her to read. While still holding her left hand firmly, his other hand held up the pad. _Don't worry. This won't beat you. The others might not know what to do, but trust me. I can help._

He paused, concern written in his eyes. He wrote _, Come on. Let me know you are with me. Talk to me_.

With slow, cautionary movements, he flipped open the pad, unclipped the gel pen, and guided her hand to rest the tip of the pen on the paper. He withdrew his hands from around her own an instead placed them gently on her shoulders. He nodded in encouragement, and Annabeth shakily wrote on the paper. _How?_

Instead of writing out a reply, Clint gently took the pen from her and capped it. He then carefully guided her still-trembling hand towards his head, placing her fingers right behind his ear. Annabeth's eyes widened in surprise as her fingers fell on the plastic of a hearing aid.

Clint gave her an odd, vulnerable smile. His eyes said it all. _Been there, done that. I can help you_.

Careful to maintain eye contact with the girl, Clint began signing simple messages to her. _Hello. Nice to meet you. A, B, C, D._

He felt a slight thrill at the wonder he saw in her eyes. And something more.

Hope.

When he lost his hearing, Clint wouldn't let anyone help him. He wouldn't admit that he _needed_ their help. Clint wouldn't wish that experience on anyone.

Okay, maybe there were a _few_ villains he would wish that on, but he would never put it upon a teenage girl.

She wasn't going through this alone. Not on his watch.

He grabbed to notepad once again, and, after wiggling the pink pen in Annabeth's face in the effort to elicit a giggle, which, he might add, was successful, he began writing. _I'll help you. Teach you ASL and all that_. Clint paused, feeling a sudden flow of doubt. _That is, if you want my help_.

The girl stilled a little bit, obviously thinking some deep, philosophical thoughts, and Clint took the time to survey her. He tried to hold in a chuckle, knowing that it was definitely not the right time to laugh. He could hardly help it, however. The whole situation was so fantastical that his mind was screwed up any way.

Well, more than it had been in the first place.

Annabeth's weird, blonde-brown hair was a frizzy mess. There were red lines on her face from laying on the pillow in an odd position, and her eyes were slightly glazed without her glasses there to guide them. Clint resisted looking at the silver eye that Ultron had apparently given her; it was just another reminder that their failure had effed-up an innocent's life.

His eyes flew to her hands as they wrote out a message. Annabeth had one of those strange handwriting styles halfway between cursive and print, and it took Clint a little time to decipher it.

 _I would like that. Thank you._

His arrogant grin returning, Clint was once again his normal self. He held out his right hand and gave Annabeth's a firm shake. _When do you want to start?_ He wrote.

Annabeth tried somewhat successfully to match his smile. _Now._

Steve, Tony, Jan, and Hank watched in amazement as Clint interacted with the girl. This Clint… this Clint was definitely not the Clint they saw walking around the mansion everyday.

Steve couldn't believe it. Annabeth had been panicking, and yet, all it took were a few simple, written words to calm her down.

 _Communication_ , Steve realized. _She's smart. Her mind is constantly trying to analyze what's going on, trying to make those connections. When she can't understand what's happening…_ Steve nodded to himself. Made sense. Reminded him of Tony, in a way, too.

And speaking of Tony…

Steve tried not to wince at the memory of Annabeth practically shoving Tony away. Steve had been happy with him for trying, but it seemed that Annabeth didn't share his sentiment. He had watched Tony shrug it off as if it were no big deal, but Steve knew his friend a little too well. Tony cared too much. That was why he pretended not to care at all.

Steve was startled out of his thoughts by Annabeth trying to stand up. Doctor Pym had warned the Avengers that her balance would be affected, but nevertheless, Annabeth still nearly fell on her face before the team's resident archer caught her. Clint wrapped an arm securely around her shoulders and began guiding her out of the room. Steve resisted the urge to roll his eyes as Clint stuck his tongue out at the other four adults as he passed.

Once Clint and Annabeth were safely out of the room, the door swinging closed behind them, Jan voice what they were all thinking. "What just happened?"

Hank shrugged. "Clint knows what she's going through. He must have known that having someway of communicating would calm her down a little bit."

"But this is the same Clint who called her a cyborg," Tony pointed out.

"He cares," Steve said simply. "He may not admit it, but he feels just as much guilt towards what happened to her as any of us do."

There was a lull in the conversation, before Jan piped up. "I think we should all learn sign language."

Everyone stared at her. "What? It would be a good surprise for the girl. It's the least we could do, I mean, we literally took away everything from her by proxy. Think. She can't even play the piano right now."

Steve and Tony made eye contact right away. Even though they had never spoken about it, they both knew that the piano was Annabeth's outlet. Without another word, Tony turned on his heel to leave the room. "Where are you going?" Hank called after him.

"To my lab. I need to get started on her hearing aids." Tony paused, glancing at Jan. "And I think that's a great idea."

Annabeth lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, wishing she could talk to anyone, even JARVIS. Or maybe especially JARVIS. With a huff, she rolled over, trying not to admit to herself how much her inability to hear the shifting sheets disturbed her.

 _Ring. Riiiiiiiiiinnnnngggg. Riiiinngg._

She clasped her hands over her ears, wishing that dreadful ringing would stop. But no rest for the weary, apparently.

 _Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiinnnnnnnnnnnnngggggg_.

It was going to drive her insane.

 _Oh, yes. It very well might_.

Annabeth froze. Of course she couldn't hear anyone but the masochistic, misogynistic, pessimistic robot currently living in her brain. Okay, so maybe he wasn't exactly that, but he might as well be.

 _I told you I would break you_.

Annabeth just stayed still, praying that Ultron would remain silent until she fell asleep.


	7. Chapter 7

**Voices Inside Me**

 **An Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes FanFiction**

 **Hey! I know, still a long time between updates, but on the bright side, I'm now on summer vacation, so I will have more time to write without worrying about sleep deprivation!**

 **Also, a note: I have recently re-watched the DC show "Young Justice" and have fallen in love with it all over again. There may occasionally be breakout stories from this that deal with the Young Justice Team, but they would never be necessary for understanding the plot. Although, I already have a sequel for this story planned that would take place in that universe, so let me know if any of y'all would be interested in reading that story or not!**

 **Warnings: Triggers related to depression.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own A:EMH.**

Chapter Seven

The next few days flew by in a blur to everyone except Annabeth.

Tony had passed the task of building the girl a hearing aid to Hank Pym, because, in all honesty, Pym was better with the biological stuff than him.

Clint had scrounged up every book he could find on ASL and was trying to figure out the best possible way to teach someone something (a skill he had never been particularly proficient at before).

Thor was being, well, _Thor._

Same with the Hulk.

Jan was busy working and saving the day because, hey, somebody had to do it and no one else seemed up to it.

Steve was still out there fighting crime, but that didn't stop him from giving Annabeth a pitying glance or two whenever the opportunity came his way.

T'Challa (whom Annabeth had never met before) returned. His attitude towards the girl was cool and understanding, one of duty and sympathy. He and Tony were instead working on the issue of sending Thor back to Asgard.

But Annabeth…

Her life dragged on, with only the ringing in her ears to accompany her. Music no longer flooded her life, offering her the relief from the sorrow and pain and suffering and repetition of the daily grind. Instead, she was stuck listening to the half-maniacal ramblings of an apocalyptic artificial intelligence, surrounded by people that she didn't know and couldn't even adequately communicate with. The more the communication gap increased, the less human Annabeth began to feel.

Annabeth knew how crucial having a form of communication was to the human mind. The identity of person was only known when a method was found to express it. This was proven by the fact that babies began to recognize themselves in the mirror right around the time they began to talk. True, Annabeth could (and would) write out anything she felt she absolutely had to say, and, if necessary, she could still speak (but it was unnerving, without being able to hear one's self), but…

It wasn't the same.

She didn't wake up the birds singing by her window.

She didn't hear the grandfather clocks chime the hour.

She couldn't hear Clint whistle as he cooked.

Couldn't hear the daily knock of the postman delivering fan mail.

Couldn't listen to the soothing voice of JARVIS to lure her to sleep.

Couldn't…

Couldn't…

She couldn't do anything…

Steve was growing progressively more and more worried about the poor girl.

 _Anna Elizabeth Rose._ The whole issue was a mystery to him. He knew nothing about her past, knew nothing about what was going on in her mind. But the look in her eyes…

It was the thousand-yard stare. The look he had often seen in the eyes of battle-weary soldiers back in the forties, that horrible, despondent look that just seemed to say, _Why go on?_ To see that look on someone so young, someone so bright, was…unnerving to say the least.

Steve knew that if something wasn't done to help the girl, that if they weren't able to stop the growing dissociation, if they weren't able to make the girl feel again, Annabeth might try to do something drastic.

Every morning, Steve would walk into the girl's room and shake her awake. There was the usual display of uncertainty and distrust in her eyes before she shook her herself fully awake and walked into the bathroom. Steve would then go down to the kitchen and begin cooking if someone else had not already. If someone was already cooking, he would sit and read the newspaper until Annabeth came down, dressed and ready to go.

Breakfast was an awkward affair. Annabeth couldn't exactly communicate efficiently with them, and none of the heroes exactly felt confident having a conversation right in front of her. Occasionally, Jan would write down a question for the girl, to which she would respond with a simple, concise, often one-word answer. Thor would occasionally boom a greeting at the girl, only to falter when the girl didn't respond, regret flashing briefly across the god's face.

After breakfast, Clint would lead the girl who-knows-where and teach her sign language. Ever since Annabeth had lost her hearing, Clint had taken to switching his hearing aid off, as a singular show of solidarity with the teenager. It helped the team realize just how truly extraordinary their teammate was. That he was such an amazing person, incredible archer, and reliable friend despite this setback truly impressed them.

Clint and Annabeth would then go to the kitchen yet again to scrounge up lunch. In actuality, Clint would quiz Annabeth on signs using gestures and written word while Annabeth prepped something for them to eat. Tony, oddly, would join them sometimes, and, miraculously, never failed to make the girl smile.

Sometime later in the afternoon, Clint would gather the team, minus one member (they switched off on who would watch Annabeth at this time. The rest of the team shared Steve's misgivings on her attitude), and teach them sign language as well. It was slow going, as Clint wasn't completely sure on how to teach adults, and Thor and Hulk were a bit of a distraction, but slowly, progress was being made.

After the first few days of this schedule, Steve noticed that as well as the growing detachment, the girl was going stir-crazy. From that point forward, the super soldier would take the girl for a run following the afternoon signing classes. These runs were enlightening, to say the least.

At first, they would just jog around the grounds, but Annabeth got continually distracted: stopping to feel the bark of an oak tree and climb to the highest bows; stopping and getting down on the ground to examine a dandelion (Steve later found out that dandelions were her "happy flowers." "How can such yellow flowers that follow the sun _not_ be happy?" she wrote) ; and even stopping smack in the middle of the running path to watch a butterfly flutter by.

Steve quickly adjusted their route after a few days of this. Now, they would walk to Central Park and Steve would leave her on a run, guiding her with pointing fingers and sure touches. Because they were in public, Annabeth refrained herself from stopping at every little thing, but Steve still noticed the way her head tilted and her eyes spaced out as she watched as another afternoon jogger, or saw a mom pushing a stroller, or gazed at a young couple chatting happily on a bench. Steve didn't understand these glances; they were just another mystery associated with the girl. Following their run, they would walk back to the manor, with a cool-down lap around the grounds, during which Annabeth stopped as often as she pleased to do whatever fit her fancy. (Well, not whatever. Steve had forbidden her from climbing one of the older trees after she narrowly missed an harrowing fall from the top of the tree following a snapped branch).

They would then walked back in, shower and clean up, and then have dinner with the team.

A few days after Steve began taking the girl for runs, Tony began to invite her down to the lab for a few hours after dinner. Steve couldn't begin to understand what they did down there, but every time he walked down, Annabeth was smiling, messing around with the holos and touchscreens and oftentimes bouncing in place. Those were the only times that Annabeth seemed to be alive.

After around two weeks of this, the team felt they knew enough sign language to communicate with the girl. Clint surveyed the gathered heroes with a slight from on his face.

He knew that he was often seen as the immature, young hero on the Avengers, but he had faced his own fare share of trials. He knew better than anyone what the girl was feeling. He understood that drive for communication, and felt her frustration at the lack thereof.

If he was being perfectly honest with himself, he thought that this increase in communication could not come soon enough. Clint wasn't an idiot. Sure, he could be a bit obtuse and oblivious, but he had seen enough PTSD, depression, and anxiety to recognize when someone was potentially a danger to themselves.

Today was Tony's day to watch Annabeth during the sign language lesson. Quickly, Clint led the team to Tony's lab, where he was sure that the little cyborg (an affectionate term, like calling a little brother a dork or an older friend gramps) was hanging out with the genius. As Clint pushed into the lab, Annabeth was standing before a holograph with her back towards him. He watched as the girl appeared to be designing something, a suit of sorts. He caught a flash of silver and blue before Tony waved to catch his eye. "Time?" he mouthed. Clint gave him a nod.

Stark smirked before moving towards the girl. The team marveled at the sense of camaraderie between the two. Not three weeks ago, the genius barely acknowledged the girl, and yet now, there was an undeniable trust built between them.

Clint watched in strange satisfaction as Tony gently put his hand on Annabeth's shoulder to draw her attention. Unable to hold in a smirk of his own, Clint watched as Tony signed, _Hello. How are you?_ He eyes lit up, as she shakily signed back at the man.

Communication. Finally.

Tony couldn't put his finger on when he actually seemed to connect with the girl. After Clint initially led the girl away after the loss of her hearing, Tony was at a loss of what to actually do. It at first stated with just having lunch occasionally with her and Clint, bringing a notepad up to communicate with the two of them. (Tony wasn't going to pretend that Clint turning off his hearing aid didn't annoy him; not being able to speak directly to your teammate in the middle of a supervillain toe-to-toe was infuriating). Tony quickly noticed that Annabeth was very sharp; her mind moved almost as fast as Tony's, and she was pretty sarcastic, much to his and Clint's delight. Before they knew it, Clint had become the brunt of many jokes. He later told Tony that he didn't mind, so long as it kept that blank stare off the girls' face. Not long after, he began inviting her down to the lab. If he was being honest with himself, Tony was doing it at first because he wanted to figure out the true extent of her mental abilities, but Tony soon found himself enjoying the company.

Hank was wrapped up in his own lab, fixing up a hearing aid, and so Tony's intelligent discussions were pretty much limited to the most random topics with Annabeth. The girl had a thousand ideas and questions buzzing around her mind. Often, they would randomly stop in the middle of whatever project they were working on and have JARVIS google whatever random questions popped into Annabeth's mind, some of which were "Who invented glasses? Like, did they expect the science behind it or was it just like, some random dude who held up some crystals to his eyes and was like, 'whoa, dude, you need to check this out!'?" and "Just how many religions are there in the world?".

Annabeth brought a kind of innocence into the lab. Sure, the girl had seen more than her fair share in her nearly fifteen years of life, but she still had a kind of purity to her.

Tony was also very happy with her ability to keep multiple projects running. From what he understood from their written communication, this ability came in part from reading multiple books at once, developing the needed ability to keep the ideas separate and yet connected in her head. As of now, he and the girl were currently working closely on three projects: developing a glove that would allow her to type and then project it through holographs to the intended audience; working on Tony's multiple dimensions project for Thor (surprisingly, the girl was invaluable in this project; she was right at the age where she knew what was possible but still had an incredible imagination; nothing was beyond the reach of her mind); and then, finally, a little pet project that served as a bonding point between the two that would most likely never be completely done.

Seeing the girl's face light up when Tony signed to her would most likely always be one of Tony's favorite memories. It helped remind him of why he became a hero in the first place; not for the thrill, but to protect and save innocence. Throughout the rest of the day, their communication had some rough bumps here and there as one would sign something odd by mistake and the other couldn't sign back from laughing so hard. Eventually, however, T'Challa came down, and, with his aid, Tony was able to finish the design for the dimensional portal.

Glancing out of the corner of his eye at Annabeth, he noticed her wrapped up completely in designing the special project. He watched her carefully eying every aspect of the design, making the smallest, minute changes. Shaking his head, he buzzed the team down, waiting for their take on the completion of the portal.

Quickly, the team filed in, with Thor and Hulk being very careful not to smash anything. Tony noticed Hank lugging in a small box, and curiosity overcame him. Tony made his way directly over to the scientist.

"What's in the box?" he questioned.

Dr. Pym gave him a tired grin. "Preliminary hearing aids. You mind if I speak to the team first?"

Tony raised a single eyebrow but motioned Hank forward. Clearing his throat, he made eye contact with each member of the team before beginning. "In this box I have the first preliminary designs for a hearing aid designed to help Annabeth. Even with these aids, she'll only be able to hear in one ear."

Tony quickly noted the frowns found on most of the team's faces.

"Also, at this point in the design, she'll only be able to hear as long as the speaker is wearing a microphone directly linked to her aid." He opened the box and began passing out small, black pieces of tech. "This is a modified design of our current comm units that are hooked up to the hearing aid. If you want to talk to Annabeth, make sure that your comm is on." Again, some frowns of disapproval located around the room.

Hank sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "Look, I know that it isn't an ideal situation, but on short notice, it's the best that I could come up with."

Carefully, so as not to startle the girl, he drew Annabeth's attention away from her design, ignoring the widening of her eyes as she noticed for the first time that the entire team was gathered in the lab. Hank grabbed a final piece of tech out of the box and, moving slowly still, began to fit the earpiece onto the girl gently. He eyes were wide with confusion that didn't abate when Clint signed, _wait,_ to her. Pym quickly finished fitting the hearing aid, switch a switch, and then spoke slowly and clearly. "Annabeth. Can you hear me?"

A smile spread across her face. "Yes."

That smile quickly fell when she couldn't hear herself. Tony noticed the small wince from Pym as he drew the final piece of tech from the box, a tiny microphone like those used by newscasters, and clipped it onto the girl's shirt. "How's that?"

"I don't kno- Hey! I can hear myself!" The smile returned.

As Hank explained to her the same spiel that he had given to the team, Tony drew the rest of their attention to his own design. Nodding to T'Challa, he began explaining the portal, only to be put to a stop by Cap's mention that he had seen the device before.

Stunned silence swept across the room, save for Hank and Annabeth, and quickly plans were made on how best to approach the manor. Unfortunately, every Avenger would be needed, so Annabeth…

After the meeting was adjourned, Tony spoke to the girl. "The whole team is needed on this mission."

Annabeth looked at him, her head titled, her expression thoughtful. "You don't know what to do with me. For the past couple of weeks, I have wormed my way into the team's compassions, but there is still the small fact that Ultron could take over at any time. You are stuck between your growing trust in me and your need to protect people."

Tony sighed. Sometimes, the girl was too bright for her own good. "That's pretty much it." He rubbed the back of his neck. "Look, I know that our personal project is pretty cool, but that's most likely not going to be put into development anytime soon. So that means that you most likely will have to remain under house arrest until the team returns."

A little bit of the light left her eyes, but Tony tried to pretend that he hadn't noticed. The girl nodded. "I understand," she responded, biting her lip slightly before continuing. "I won't put up any fight."

Smirking, Tony ruffled her hair, ignoring the indignant squawk that accompanied the motion. "Good girl. Now, how about some cookies before bed?"

She smiled and grabbed his arm, dragging him quickly to the kitchen.

A few days later, as Annabeth was running around the mansion, she noticed JARVIS flashing a light to get her attention. There had been a few bugs with connecting the AI to her hearing aid, and so they had been forced to rely on visuals. She quickly found the closest screen and read the message that he had prepared for her.

 _THE AVENGERS SUCCEEDED IN DEALING WITH THE PORTALS, HOWEVER…_

The text paused, and Annabeth motioned impatiently, willing the text to scroll on.

 _I CAN NO LONGER DETECT THEIR LIFE FORCES. I DO NOT BELIEVE THAT THEY ARE ON EARTH ANY LONGER._

Annabeth froze. Her mind whirled, but soon most of the confusion, most of the anger, most of the fear, had fallen from her face, leaving behind only cold calculations. "JARVIS," she stated calmly, her voice completely cold. "Begin production on Project Belle, immediately if possible."

Tony was having a rough week. Getting stuck in another dimension, trying to gain the trust of it's inhabitants, forming armor out of a substance he had never worked with, fighting magic… He was pretty done.

Which was partly why he was so anxious to get home. After finishing Loki, the team had had to stay for the mandatory three days of feasting in Asgard. Tony really just wanted to get home into his own lab.

And of course, there was the manner of Annabeth. Tony was trying not to let his anxiety about the girl become too apparent, he did have a reputation to keep up after all, but she had been left on her own for a week. Who knows what she could have gotten up to?

Finally, he and the rest of the Avengers were sent back to earth. Arriving in the mansion, they found Annabeth lounging in her room, reading her book. JARVIS had not alreted her to their arrival per Clint's request, and the team all laughed at her startled face when he tapped her on the shoulder. At her eager questions, the Avengers told them all that had transpired in the other realms. Her smile grew and grew, and she constantly was asking questions and interrupting the story. The night was growing old when the team left her room.

On his way out, Tony was moving to close the door when a glint of silver and blue shoved in the corner caught his eye. Annabeth saw where he was looking and shifted guiltily in her seat. Making sure that the rest of the team was down the hall, so as not to embarrass or overwhelm her, Tony sat square to her, his voice betraying the seriousness of the situation. "Why is what looks to be Project Belle sitting in the corner?"


End file.
